


How to Confess (Kageyama x Reader)

by ArinFive



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Complete, Confessions, Denial, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Karasuno, Karasuno helping Kageyama, Reader-Insert, apology, argument, awkward kageyama, daisuga if you squint - Freeform, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArinFive/pseuds/ArinFive
Summary: You and Kageyama were childhood friends until the two of you had a fight in your last year of middle school. Despite both being students at Karasuno High School, you haven't talked for nearly a year since then. However, the match against Aoba Johsai at the Inter-High Tournament makes Kageyama realize the importance of having people to rely on and that he misses his friendship with you. After he finally works up the courage to apologize for what happened a year ago, your friendship resumes as if nothing had ever changed. But what if Kageyama wants more than just a friendship from you now? Will the Karasuno Volleyball Team be able to convince the awkward first-year to face his feelings and confess?
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Reader, Kageyama Tobio/Reader
Comments: 43
Kudos: 435





	1. He's Changed

“I’m serious!” Kindaichi exclaimed. “Kageyama, the dictator king, was actually working with his team!”  


“Are you sure you didn’t just misunderstand things?” you asked. “I mean, this is the setter that you and Kunimi were always complaining about because of his crazy tosses back at Kitagawa Daiichi.”  


Kunimi shook his head. “Kageyama has changed since then…You could see it in the way he plays. He’s not trying to win all by himself anymore.”  


The three of you sat around a round table in a crowded café, a cup of hot tea in front of you while Kunimi and Kindaichi both had coffee. It had become a regular occurrence for the three of you to meet up every weekend ever since you decided to go to Karasuno and the two had gone to Seijou. Despite no longer seeing them in the classroom every day, your friendship with the pair was still as strong as ever. You texted them daily and tried to see as many of their volleyball matches as possible, as they were both on Seijou’s volleyball team. Right after they had defeated Karasuno in the Inter-High Tournament, Kindaichi had texted you to tell you about the change he had seen in Tobio Kageyama, your former classmate from Kitagawa Daiichi. Hearing him and Kunimi describe Kageyama’s newfound ability to work with his teammates instead of against them, you wished that you had been able to see the match for yourself.  


“It probably has to do with that number ten shrimp,” Kindaichi said. “He finally has a spiker who’s fast enough for him.”  


You didn’t miss the hint of bitterness in Kindaichi’s voice. You knew that despite the tough front he put up, Kindaichi had been hurt by Kageyama’s constant criticism in middle school for not being able to hit his tosses. He and Kunimi had often ranted to you about how condescending Kageyama had been at practice. It was one of the things that had drove a wedge between you and Kageyama’s friendship during middle school.  


“You haven’t seen him being…different now?” Kunimi asked, turning to you. “I mean, you see him around since you go to the same high school right?”  


You shook your head. “Not really. He’s not in my class and I’m assuming that he’s with the volleyball club during his free time. I haven’t talked to him since, you know, middle school.”  


Kunimi and Kindaichi both nodded, looking down, as silence enveloped the three of you. The two of them had never been close to Kageyama, having only bad experiences with him at volleyball, but they knew that the two of you had been childhood friends. You didn’t even remember how you and Kageyama had met; it was like you’ve always known each other. In elementary school, you had met up each morning to walk to school together and you always waited for him in the halls to walk home after his teacher was done scolding him for dozing off in class. When middle school had started, you didn’t think anything would change. You walked to school together, listening to him talk about how he was going to join the Kitagawa Daiichi volleyball team and how they were going to go to Nationals. You two weren’t ever in the same class in middle school, but you were classmates with Kindaichi and Kunimi, who you quickly befriended. You and Kageyama would still meet up at the school gates when you were finished with student council duties and Kageyama finished with volleyball and walk home together every day.  


It had been a comfortable pattern for the two of you for the first two years of middle school. You didn’t see each other much during school- you had Kindaichi, Kunimi, and your other friends from class and knew he preferred to be more of a loner anyways- but you had your walks to and from school to look forward to. On weekends, he often came over to your house as you helped him out with his homework. You would go to his volleyball games to cheer him, Kunimi, and Kindaichi on.  


It was in your last year of middle school that things began to change. Kageyama grew quieter on your walks to and from school and only gave one-word answers when you asked him anything. His visits on the weekend grew more infrequent, and Kindaichi and Kunimi began telling you about his behavior at volleyball practice. Their stories, about the condescending, unforgiving King, were jarring against your image of your childhood friend. Sure, Kageyama was straightforward and blunt, but you couldn’t image him yelling and berating his teammates over a sport.  


You were proven wrong when you went to watch Kitagawa Daiichi’s last match in middle school. Kunimi and Kindaichi’s seemed even angrier than usual towards Kageyama in the weeks leading up to the match, but you had chalked it up to nerves and stress over having such an important game. The game didn’t seem to be going well for your team, with their spikes being stopped no matter what strategy they tried. You were in the bleachers above the Kitagawa Daiichi side of the court, when you saw the ball go to Kageyama, who tossed it up at a speed that your eyes could hardly follow. It fell to the ground besides Kindaichi, who had jumped, attempting to hit it. Your eyes had widened as you heard Kageyama yelling at Kindaichi, just like Kindaichi said he did during practice, about how he had to jump faster. Kindaichi had retorted that his tosses were “unhittable,” and the next time the ball went to Kageyama, the same thing happened when his toss flew past Kunimi and hit the ground. You could see the frustration and anger on Kindaichi and Kunimi’s faces as this continued to happen, until a few tosses later, nobody on the team even attempted to hit Kageyama’s toss. The entire gym seemed to fall silent as the ball clattered to the ground and the Kitagawa Daiichi team turned their backs on Kageyama, who was quickly benched for the rest of the match.  


Kageyama had been silent when you walked to school the next day as you hesitantly tried to comfort him about their team’s loss. He hadn’t said anything as you attempted to string something together about how he had tried his best and would have another shot in high school. It was when you started to say that his team had overreacted from the stress of the match, he turned with the most menacing glare in his eyes that you had ever seen.  


“Shut up!” he had shouted. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”  


“I’m sorry, Tobio,” you had whispered, shaken from his sudden outburst. “I just-“  


“You think you’re making me feel better?” Kageyama had continued to yell. “Trying your hardest doesn’t matter if it’s not enough to win! It doesn’t matter because we lost! The only people who try to justify their losses with “trying their hardest” are the people who are weak. You’re just as useless as the spikers on my team were.”  


He had stormed off after that, leaving you standing alone on the sidewalks, as tears silently dripped down your face. Your hands clenched at your sides as you held in a sob. You weren’t even sure what you were most upset about: him yelling at you or the fact that he called his teammates and your friends, Kindaichi and Kunimi, useless.  


You had tried to cover up your swollen eyes in the bathroom once you reached school, but Kunimi and Kindaichi had immediately noticed that something was wrong. In the corner of the classroom, you had quietly recounted what had happened that morning to them, and they assured you that it was Kageyama, not you, who had been in the wrong. They had called Kageyama “a heartless jerk” and “emotionless King,” and for once, you didn’t defend him. From that day on, you left the house half and hour earlier and walked to school alone. Kindaichi and Kunimi would wait for you afterschool, even after their volleyball club stopped meeting, so you could walk home together once you were done with student council duties. You hardly saw Kageyama; he no longer came to study on the weekends and never texted or called you after your fight.  


Kindaichi and Kunimi had wanted you to go to Aoba Johsai with them for high school, but you had chosen Karasuno instead, for their top-ranked college preparatory classes in your area. You only knew that Kageyama also went there because you happened to see him at the new student orientation at the beginning of the year, which had been a shock. Ever since middle school, Kageyama had talked about wanting to go to Shiratorizawa, the top powerhouse volleyball school in the prefecture, for high school. You had wondered what he was doing at Karasuno for only a moment before reminding yourself that it didn’t matter. He clearly didn’t care about you. It was a waste of time to be caring about him.  


“Oh wow, it's already this late,” Kunimi said, glancing down at his phone. “Sorry guys, it’s time for me to head home. I have an essay for Modern Literature that I need to finish for tomorrow.”  


“You haven’t done it either? I honestly have no idea what to write for that,” Kindaichi said. “Honestly, I have no idea how you manage to take all college-prep classes, go to cram school, and be student council president. I can barely finish my homework before it’s due.”  


“That’s probably because you spend all your time playing volleyball,” you teased. “But if you need me to take a look at it tonight, just shoot me a text.”  
Kindaichi nodded, as the three of you stood up to leave. “Thanks. You’re the best.”  


“Someone has to help you two pass high school.”  


“Don’t worry, if volleyball ever becomes a college-prep subject, we’ll be sure to return the favor,” Kunimi said.  


The three of you parted ways after promising to meet up again the next weekend and you started your walk home. You had some work that you wanted to get a head start on too but hanging out with Kindaichi and Kunimi was good for your soul. While you loved your Karasuno friends, Kindaichi and Kunimi reminded you of all the good times you had in middle school. When you were with them, it was almost like you went back in time. You could pretend that nothing had changed, that the three of you were still classmates, and though you’d never admit it to anyone, that you and Kageyama had never fought and were still friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi reader, thanks for taking the time to check out this story! Though this is a completed fic, I will still be responding to comments so please don't hesitate to tell me what you think about my work! You can leave comments even without an account or you can message me on tumblr @ArinFive. Thanks and happy reading!


	2. Regrets

Thump!  


Kageyama’s eyes widened as his volleyball hit the ceiling before falling back into his hands. He hadn’t realized that every toss he did while lying on his bed had gotten progressively more forceful. Knowing that repeatedly hitting the ceiling would lead to his parents checking on him, Kageyama sighed heavily as his fingers tightened around his volleyball. Despite having played a brutal match the other day at the Inter-High tournament against Aoba Johsai, he was still brimming with energy.  


He was itching to be back on the court again. That moment when the ball had fallen on their side when they had been so close to beating Oikawa had been replaying over and over in Kageyama’s mind. If only I’d gotten more points from my serves. If only I’d been able to toss better. If only I hadn’t tossed to Hinata that last time when Oikawa knew I would do so, maybe we would’ve won.  


The ball slipped out of his hands as he let it roll onto the floor. Kageyama’s fingers clenched into fists. Hinata had shouted at him after the match for apologizing about tossing to him, saying that he didn’t want Kageyama to make it sound like tossing to him had been a mistake. Kageyama knew that Hinata had a point, and that despite their loss his newfound ability to trust and work with his teammates, especially Hinata, would be vital when they competed in the Spring Tournament. Even so, he couldn’t stop a part of him from questioning whether it really had been the right call. If he hadn’t tossed to Hinata, Oikawa wouldn’t have been able to read him as easily. Maybe they would’ve gotten the point. Maybe they would’ve won the game and had gotten to challenge Shiratorizawa.  


Groaning at the never-ending what-ifs that wouldn’t leave his mind, Kageyama picked up his volleyball again. Why was he always a step behind Oikawa at everything, never able to catch up? It was clear at the Inter-High tournament that despite how much he wanted to deny it, Oikawa was still a higher-level setter than Kageyama was. He was able to draw out the best out of all his spikers whereas Kageyama was only really able to do that with Hinata. Oikawa was a better server than Kageyama. But, worst of all, Oikawa was just a more likeable person than he was. Kageyama knew that he came off as abrasive, blunt, and unapproachable to most people. In contrast to that, everyone looked up to Oikawa as a player and captain. He always had a swarm of fangirls around him, and despite what the others on the Seijou team said verbally, Kageyama could tell that they were all close friends. It wasn’t that Kageyama didn’t like his teammates, but were they friends? If he wasn’t the starting setter on the team and the only person to be able to use the quick attack with Hinata, would they still talk to him the way they did now?  


He tossed the volleyball up again, being wary of how much force he used. It fell back into his hands and he threw it up again and again. Despite his standoffish nature, it was at times like this that Kageyama wished he had a close friend to talk about how he was feeling with. He envied the way Daichi and Sugawara seemed to balance each other out, how Nishinoya always believed in Asahi’s abilities as an ace, and even Oikawa and Iwaizumi’s strange bond that came with complete trust in each other both on and off the court. In a way, Kageyama had Hinata, but they mostly talked about volleyball and Kageyama inwardly cringed at the thought of talking about how he felt to him. Knowing Hinata, he’d probably make fun of him for being jealous of the “Great King” anyways.  


Kageyama sighed, tossing the ball up just a little higher this time. It hadn’t always been like this. Just a year ago, he’d be having conversations like this with you as you walked home from school together or during breaks that you took when you were helping him cram for an exam on the weekends. He was still quiet around you but would open up if you asked him what was wrong. Somehow, you always seemed to know when something was bothering him, even though he seemed to be able to pull off being stoic and emotionless around most other people. If the two of you were still talking, he would’ve been able to talk to you about how angry he was about losing to Oikawa and Seijou, but mostly at himself. It was almost funny how similar this situation was to the last time the two of you talked. Both times, he was angry and blaming himself for a loss that prevented his team from advancing in a tournament. Last time, he had lashed out at you in his anger, not being able to contain all the angry emotions that had built up in him. This time, he knew that talking about how he felt was the answer, but you were no longer there to listen.  


He reached for his phone at his side to check the time. 12:30 a.m. If he wanted to make it to practice tomorrow morning without feeling half-dead, it was time for him to attempt to sleep. His eyes lingered on his phone for an extra moment. Your phone number was still there, unused for close to a year now. With just a few taps of his finger, he could be talking to you. In another universe, he would call you without hesitation and you’d pick up. He’d be able to talk to you the way he used to, and the two of you would still be friends.  


Shaking his head, Kageyama put down both his phone and volleyball. He had clearly stayed up too late if he was thinking that things could go back to normal. He had hurt you that day when you’d done nothing wrong. If he called you like he’d wanted to so many times since then, you wouldn’t pick up. You probably didn’t even think of him as a friend now.  


* * *  


Kageyama rubbed his eyes, looking at the clock. His alarm shouldn’t have gone off yet, so why was he awake? Had that high-pitched ring that had woken him up been from a dream? He was about to shrug it off and go back to sleep when the doorbell rang again.  


Still half-asleep Kageyama heaved himself out of his bed. Who was visiting him this early in the morning, on a school day? Both his parents should have already left for work.  


“Kageyama! Open up!”  


Kageyama flinched at the voice coming from his door. No way.  


“What are you doing here?” he demanded, as he opened the door. “Do you know how early it is?”  


Just like he had suspected, Hinata was standing outside. Despite Kageyama’s attempt to shoot a sleepy glare at his teammate, Hinata didn’t move.  


“I’m here to walk to school with you!” he said. “Hurry up and get ready! I wanna get to the gym early to practice!”  


“We never walk to school together,” Kageyama pointed out. “And I always get to the gym earlier than you do.”  


“Yeah, well we lost to Seijou so now we have to beat them at the Spring Tournament! That means we have to work on our quick so it’ll be strong enough to beat them!” Kageyama had no idea how 

Hinata managed to have so much energy in the morning. Did the kid never get tired? “Besides, I figured you were gonna be sulking after losing to the Great King so I’m here to keep you from getting the negativity slapped out of you by Suga-san like Daichi-senpai did.”  


And that was how Kageyama found himself walking to school with Hinata at a much earlier time than usual. It was the first time Kageyama had seen someone from the team since their loss due to the weekend they had off and he could feel the determined energy that seemed to radiate from Hinata. Despite his words, he knew Hinata was probably just as upset about losing as he was.  


“Kageyama, did you have any friends in middle school?” Hinata suddenly asked.  


“Huh? Who just asks that to someone out of the blue, idiot?”  


Hinata shrugged. “I was just wondering since you weren’t close with your middle school teammates.”  


“We only talked to each other for volleyball,” Kageyama said, thinking of his strained relationship with Kindaichi and Kunimi. “We were teammates, but not friends.”  


“So who’d you talk to when you got upset about the Great King being better than you or when you guys lost a match?” Hinata asked. “Since you didn’t have me to drag you out of the house.”  


“I didn’t ask you to show up at my house, stupid,” Kageyama said.  


“You didn’t answer either of my questions.”  


“I had…a friend.” Kageyama hesitated. Ever since his falling-out with you, he hadn’t had anyone to talk to about personal issues. Hinata would be the first person he talked about what had happened between the two of you with. “We basically grew up together even though she didn’t play volleyball. I guess I would talk to her whenever I got upset about a game. She somehow knew whenever I was upset and would keep bothering me until I told her.”  


“Wow, and you didn’t throw a volleyball at her face like you do when you say I’m annoying?” Hinata said. “You should talk to her, Kageyama! Anyone can tell that you’re still mad about the tournament and I don’t want you to be taking it out on me at practice with your serves!”  


Despite knowing that Hinata was joking, the words still stung Kageyama. It hit too close to what had happened a year ago and had destroyed his friendship with you.  


“I can’t. We don’t talk anymore.”  


“Huh?” Hinata asked. “Why not?”  


“She came to that last match I had at Kitagawa Daiichi. She was close friends with Kunimi and Kindaichi and saw me yell at them on the court. And then we lost, and the next day, she was trying to make me feel better. She was saying all this stuff about how I had tried my best and would have another shot the next year and I was still angry about losing, so I-“ The words felt heavy in his mouth as he forced them out. “I lashed out at her and yelled at her. I called her useless. We haven’t talked since then.”  


Hinata’s eyes widened. “Did you apologize?”  


Kageyama gritted his teeth. “No. She probably doesn’t want to hear it since we haven’t talked at all even though we’re both at Karasuno-“  


“Wait they’re at our school? Kageyama, your childhood friend and maybe the only person who’s ever been able to bug you into talking about your feelings goes to Karasuno and you haven’t apologized to them? Why haven’t you?”  


Kageyama shrugged, looking down at the ground. So many reasons, he thought. You probably didn’t want anything to do with him anyways. He didn’t deserve to be your friend after-  


“I got it!” Hinata exclaimed, interrupting his thoughts. “You scared because you’ve never apologized to anyone before!”  


“Stupid, that’s not…” Kageyama’s words died in his throat. Could it be true? Had he, in all his years of being alive, have never apologized? He knew he had screwed up when it came to volleyball in his third year, and of course with you, but what about all the small things he’d done or said wrong? The two of you had fought over smaller things before the one that ended you friendship. Why did he only have memories of you apologizing to him first and none of him approaching you?  


“It’s okay, Kageyama!” Hinata exclaimed. “I’ll help you! I’ll teach you how to apologize and you’ll have your middle school friend back and maybe you’ll be nicer to me when I miss my receives!”  


“That wouldn’t be an issue if you were better at receiving,” Kageyama pointed out.  


“That’s not the point!” Hinata said, but his unwavering smile made it clear that he took Kageyama’s silence regarding his offer as acceptance. Kageyama sighed. If anyone had asked him a year ago if he’d be learning how to apologize from anyone, he would’ve thrown a ball at them. But, for once, Hinata had a point, didn’t he? The last fight he had with you had clearly been his fault. It may be close to a year since the incident, but now, maybe he could finally learn how to make things right.


	3. Apology

“Why do I have to practice saying sorry?”  


Kageyama and Hinata were sitting on the floor of the gym, their extra-early morning practice forgotten. After insisting that he would teach Kageyama how to apologize properly on their walk here, Hinata had decided that helping Kageyama took precedent over working on their quick that morning. Kageyama had thought that he was hallucinating when Hinata said that at first, but Hinata had insisted that working on their quick wouldn’t be effective if Kageyama’s mind was obviously elsewhere. After explaining to Kageyama the “basics of apologizing” such as making sure he directly stated what he did wrong and that you weren’t under any obligation to forgive him, Hinata had instructed him to practice saying “sorry” to him.  


“I don’t have anything to apologize to you for,” Kageyama continued. “And do you think I’m so bad at talking to people that I’m not going to be able to say two words to her?”  
Hinata shrugged. “You messed up twice when you tried to say “nice” to Tsukishima, so maybe.”  


Kageyama glared at the ground. He had hoped that everyone had managed to forget that, but apparently that was too much to ask. “I-I’m sorry.”  


“Kageyama, I can hardly hear you!” Hinata said. “I have to say it like you mean it! Just copy me!”  


Hinata stood up, his arms straight by his sides. He bowed down deeply while shouting, “I’m sorry!”  


After hesitating for a moment, the humiliation that he felt when he screwed up saying “nice” to Tsukishima motivating him to take Hinata’s advice, Kageyama stood up too. “I’m sorry!” he said, bowing down, though not as deep as Hinata.  


“That was good!” Hinata cheered, as Kageyama heard the doors of the gym being pushed open.  


“What are you two doing?”  


Kageyama’s head jerked up to see Daichi and Sugawara standing at the entrance of the gym.  


“I’m teaching Kageyama how to apologize!” Hinata said, earning confused looks from the two third-years.  


“Shut up, stupid!” Kageyama exclaimed, trying to keep the heat from rushing to his cheeks in embarrassment. He certainly hoped that the two hadn’t heard him practicing his apology. “We’ll get set up for practice now!”  


He rushed to the storage closet to grab the cart of volleyballs, his face still burning up. He couldn’t believe he actually let Hinata teach him how to say sorry. At least it wasn’t Tsukishima who walked in, or he would never hear the end of it. Mumbling curses under his breath, he gripped the volleyball cart to push it out onto the court. As much as he hated to admit it, he hoped that Hinata’s advice would work when he approached you later. He wasn’t sure what he would do if you rejected his apology.  


“Kageyama, aren’t you going to go find you friend and apologize to them?” Hinata asked, as Kageyama pulled out his lunch. “Did you forget or something?”  


Of course Kageyama hadn’t forgotten. Finally talking to you and apologizing had plagued his mind that entire day. Even Tsukishima had asked if he was doing okay when he missed serve after serve in the morning. His mind had wandered during class as he went over all the different ways the conversation could go. The best-case scenario would be that you accept his apology immediately, no questioned asked. He wasn’t sure what the worst-case scenario was. Would it hurt more if you rejected his apology outright, or if you just refused to hear him say sorry to begin with? What if you yelled at him like he had, as payback for what he had done? He certainly would deserve it.  


“I-I’ll do it tomorrow,” Kageyama said. His grip on his lunchbox tightened. Was this what people meant when referring to “getting cold feet?” Is this how Hinata had felt during his very first high school practice match against Aoba Johsai? Kageyama had made fun of him at the time, but he understood why Hinata had freaked out so much now. His heart was beating so loudly that he thought that it would leap out of his chest. He felt out of breath despite having been sitting at his desk all morning.  


“Are you actually scared?” Hinata asked. Seeing Kageyama’s expression freeze, Hinata laughed. “Wow, you’re not afraid to take on anyone except the Great King on the court, but this scares you? You really are weird!”  


“S-Shut up! I’m not scared!” Kageyama said.  


“Oh yeah? Prove it!”  


“I will!” Kageyama slammed his bento box on his desk, standing up, immediately regretting his words. Seeing Hinata’s grin only confirmed that he had walked right into a trap. Sighing, knowing that there was no way that he could back down without Hinata making fun of him, he headed towards the door.  


“Why are you coming?” he asked, as Hinata trailed after him.  


“I have to make sure you’re not going to run away!” Hinata said. Kageyama scoffed, looking away. Even so, he had to force his feet to move forward towards your classroom. His eyes fell on the sign in front of the door: Class 1-4.  


“Class 1-4?” Hinata asked. “Wait, your friend isn’t secretly Tsukishima, are they?”  


“Of course not, stupid,” Kageyama said, shuddering at the thought. “I told you my friend was a “she,” didn’t I?”  


“Oh,” was all Hinata said, though he sounded relieved. Kageyama took a deep breath as he reached for the doorknob. This was it.  


He felt the eyes of everyone in the classroom on him as he stepped inside. It wasn’t a surprise; he had never come to the college-prep class before and they probably had no idea who he was. The fact that Hinata was looking around the room at all the academic posters on the wall like an excited chihuahua probably wasn’t helping either. Kageyama’s eyes scanned the room. Where were you?  


“Look who’s here.” Kageyama turned around to see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walking into the classroom behind him. “What’s the King doing in the college-prep class? Don’t you have better things to do during lunch than hang out with the peasants?”  


Kageyama looked down, gritting his teeth. He hated that the nickname “King” still irked him as much as it did, especially coming from Tsukishima. He hated that it reminded him of the person that he was in middle school. He had been a dictator, and everyone at Kitagawa Daiichi, and especially you, had known it. But not anymore, he thought. He was here in your classroom to prove that he had changed and that he could fix things now.  


“Do you know where the class president is?” Kageyama asked.  


Tsukishima was taken aback for a moment before shrugging. “How should I know? And what does the King need with the first-year class president, anyways?”  


“I saw her here earlier,” Yamaguchi said, glancing around the room. “She probably just stepped out for a second and will be back soon.”  
Kageyama gave Yamaguchi a grateful nod as the pair went to sit in the back of the classroom. Now that they were gone, Kageyama was left standing alone awkwardly at the front of the room. Unable to take the stares of all the students in the room as well as Tsukishima’s smirk, he headed towards the door.  


“Hey, where are you going? Are you chickening out?” Hinata said.  


“No! I’ll just wait for her outside-“ Kageyama said, turning his head to speak to Hinata as he opened the door. Unfortunately, not looking where he was going meant that he walked straight into someone who had been trying to step into the room at the same time.  


“Oh! I’m sorry!”  


Kageyama looked down at the person who he had walked into and froze. He hadn’t prepared himself adequately for this. You were standing right in front of him in the doorway, the two of you standing the closest that you had since that day. Hearing your voice again after such a long time made him question if this was real for a second. Could this entire day have been a long, strange dream?  


“Um…Are you okay? Tobio?”  


Your concerned tone pulled him back to reality. You called him by his first name, he thought. That had to count for something, right?  


“Yeah. Uh, I, uh,” He internally groaned. Why was this so hard? Clearly Hinata’s “apology practice” hadn’t worked if he couldn’t even string together a coherent sentence in front of you. “I wanted to talk to you. Not in your classroom, if you’re, uh, okay with that. You don’t have to-“  


“Tobio, it’s fine,” you said, saving him from his rambling. Did you do that remembering that he tended to ramble and stutter when he got nervous? “We can talk at the end of the hall.”  


“Kageyama, I’m gonna go eat. See you later!”  


Kageyama had completely forgotten that Hinata had come with him. Thankfully, for once, Hinata seemed to have read the mood and excused himself, waving bye to him before ducking back into classroom 1-3. You looked at Hinata leave curiously before motioning for Kageyama to follow you.  


The walk to the end of the hall was silent. Kageyama balled his hands into fists. This shouldn’t be too hard, right? If he could face his rivals, some of the best volleyball player in Miyagi, on the court why couldn’t he just have one simple conversation with you?  


“So, Tobio, did you need something from me?”  


The two of you were alone at the end of the hallway. Your voice was even as you spoke, though he noticed the way you were looking at the ground, instead of at him. You used to always look at him when you were speaking to him.  


“Actually, I, uh, wanted to tell you something.” The silence as you waited for him to continue was heavy, as he took a slow breath. It was just like serving when a game was at match point. He just had to go for it despite it potentially not working out in his favor.  


“I-I’m sorry. About what happened last year and what I said. I was upset that we lost and with what happened with my team. I didn’t know how to deal with how I was feeling and took it out on you even though you hadn’t done anything wrong.” Now that he had started talking, the words seemed to gush out of his mouth like a waterfall. “I didn’t know how to apologize to you before this and you don’t have to forgive me or anything and you probably hate me now and I get why. But I- even if I’m too late, I want to apologize.”  


His gaze was directed straight at the floor as he noticed that he was breathing heavily. After the heaviest silence in his life, he heard you breathe out loudly and hesitantly looked up. “I guess Kunimi and Kindaichi were right. You really have changed.”  


“Huh?” Kageyama asked. He’d been prepared for you to reject his apology, to still be angry at him, or even yell at him. He’d spent the entire day thinking of different ways this conversation could go, yet none of those possibilities included you bringing up his former teammates.  


“I saw them yesterday,” you told him. “They were telling me about the game you had against them the other day. Kindaichi said you were different. Something about how you were working with your team and trusting them.”  


“I was wrong in middle school,” Kageyama said. “The way I treated my team, my friends, and you. I didn’t care about how other people felt enough and I tried to take us to Nationals without caring about how anyone else felt. And then when that didn’t work, I took my anger out on you. I’m sorry.”  


“You know, I think this is the first time you’ve ever said, “I’m sorry” to anyone,” you said.  


“Probably,” Kageyama admitted. “I didn’t realize that I was so bad about taking the blame for my mistakes. I’m not good at apologizing. You don’t have to forgive me, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. Sorry for bothering you-”  


“Tobio, of course I’m going to forgive you,” you cut in. “You really think that lashing out once was going to override our entire friendship?”  


Kageyama’s eyes widened, certain that he had misheard you. You were…going to forgive him? “We haven’t talked since then.”  


“I’ve thought about approaching you since then, so many times,” you admitted. “I guess I thought that maybe you were happier.”  


Kageyama heard the unspoked words in your sentence. Maybe you were happier without me. He shook his head. “I know I’m not…good at making friends. The volleyball club here is nice, but they don’t know me as well as you do. I can’t talk to them about the things that I used to talk to you about.”  


“I’ve missed you, Tobio,” you said, making Kageyama’s face turn red. Yeah, that’s what I meant to say, he thought, though he didn’t think he would ever be able to admit that out loud.  


“I, uh, after volleyball today,” he stammered out, cursing his nervous tone. “Actually, never mind. You don’t have to wait for me, you probably have student council stuff anyways, and you don’t have to- “  


“Tobio, I’ll meet you in front of the gates,” you said. “I’ll probably be done a little before you are.”  


Kageyama breathed a sigh of relief, nodding and silently thanking you silently. What for, he wasn’t sure. For saving him from his embarrassing rambling again? For knowing what he was trying to ask you to do? For giving him a second chance at being your friend?  


“I’ll see you then, okay?” you said. Kageyama nodded, and you smiled before heading back to your classroom. Kageyama remained standing in the hallway alone for a moment, staring at where you had been standing before. Really, he didn’t deserve how nice you were being to him. After close to a year since your fight, which had been completely his fault, you were just letting him walk back into your life. He had no idea how he’d gotten you to stay as his friend for so long.  


“So, how’d it go?” Hinata asked when Kageyama returned to classroom 1-3.  


“She…forgave me,” Kageyama said, still partially in shock. His shoulders felt infinitely lighter, like a weight that he didn’t know he’d been carrying had finally been lifted. Why had he waited so long to apologize to you? Why did he let a year’s worth of friendship go to waste because he wasn’t able to own up to his mistake earlier?  


“Really? That’s great!” Hinata said. “Wow, I can’t believe I actually helped Kageyama get better at something! Now you owe me, so you can’t make fun of me for messing up my serves!”  


The volleyball reference snapped Kageyama out of his trancelike state. “Your “help” didn’t do anything! I didn’t bow or yell and she still forgave me!”  


“How’d you get someone that nice to be your friend for so long?” Hinata muttered, as he went back to eating his lunch. For once, Kageyama didn’t retort. He didn’t know how you had tolerated him for this long either, let alone how you had it in you to forgive him. He certainly didn’t deserve your friendship. But now that he had a second chance, he was determined not to mess it up.


	4. Walks

“And now we’re going to walk home together!” you exclaimed as you finished recounting the day’s events to Kindaichi. You were standing at the gates in front of Karasuno, eyes on the gym where Kageyama was finishing up his volleyball practice. You’d called Kindaichi as soon as your student council meeting had finished, being unable to wait until your in-person meeting with him and Kunimi at the end of the week.  


“Wow, the King apologized?” Kindaichi said, his voice sounding of awe and disbelief. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”  


“Isn’t that kind of out of the blue though?” you heard Kunimi say. You assumed Kindaichi had put you on speaker at some point for Kunimi to hear. You didn’t mind, as you would’ve told Kunimi later anyways. “I mean, you guys haven’t spoken since middle school, right? And he just came up to you to apologize suddenly?”  


“Yeah,” Kindaichi said. “I know you’re happy that you guys seem like you’re back to normal, but I hope you remember how sad you were after you guys fought.”  


“What do you mean?”  


“It’s just,” Kunimi seemed to struggle to choose the right words. “I know Kageyama seems to be different, but we all remember what he was like just last year. People don’t just completely change that quickly. We just don’t want you to get hurt again.”  


“I don’t think he’s changed completely,” you said. “I think he’s reverted more to how he was before that last year of middle school. Before that, you know, he was still quiet but a lot nicer than the person I think you guys remember him as being.”  


As soon as you said that, you saw a number of people heading out of the gym. Seeing Kageyama amongst them as they approached, a smile split across your face.  


“Besides, I’ve missed him,” you said. “He’s coming. I’ll see you soon?”  


“This weekend,” Kunimi agreed.  


“Bye Kindaichi, Kunimi,” you said, hanging up as Kageyama walked up to you.  


“Hey,” he said. Kageyama’s eyes seemed to be stuck on the ground, as if refusing to look at you directly.  


“You’re Kageyama’s friend?” You looked behind Kageyama to see a small, red-headed boy sprinting up towards you.  


“Uh,” Kageyama said, finally looking up at you. “This is Hinata from volleyball. We usually walk home together so are you okay if he…”  


He trailed off, averting his gaze as you nodded. “Of course! It’s nice to meet you! Tobio and I go way back. We went to elementary and Kitagawa Daiichi together.”  


“Wow! You’re in class 1-4 right? The college prep class?” Hinata said. “How’ve you been able to put up with this guy for so long?”  


“Huh? Your grades are worse than mine, stupid!” Kageyama shot back as the three of you headed out onto the street. You listened to Hinata talk about volleyball and he and Kageyama’s quick attack. Kageyama remained mostly quiet, though he muttered a few words of agreement when Hinata started ranting about one of their teammates, Tsukishima. From how Hinata described him (“stupidly tall stick with glasses!”) you guessed that it was the same Tsukishima who was in your class. You had hardly heard him talk, though you were acquaintances with his friend, Yamaguchi. It was surprising to hear that the usually quiet guy was apparently snarky and rude, at least according to Hinata.  


“Wow Hinata, I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone who loves volleyball as much as Tobio does,” you said.  


Hinata smiled. “I can’t help but love it! It’s such a cool sport! You get to jump and run around and fight guys that you’d never be able to beat in any other sport. What about you? Do you play any sports?”  


You shook your head. “I’m not the athletic type at all. Tobio tried to get me into volleyball when we were younger but I have no idea how you guys control the ball so well. Most of my time is taken up with class and cram school, anyways. Oh, and I’m our class president for the student council.”  


“Woah, that’s so cool!” Hinata said. “But you’ll come to our matches, right? We’re going to get our revenge on Aoba Johsai at the Spring Tournament and Kageyama is going to finally beat the Great King!”  


“Great King?”  


“He means Oikawa-san,” Kageyama said. “You know, the guy who was captain at Kitagawa Daiichi when we were first-years?”  


“The one that Kindaichi basically worshipped?” You remembered that for your first year of middle school, Kindaichi would bring up the name of his volleyball captain in basically every conversation he had with you and Kunimi. Kageyama nodded to confirm your suspicions.  


“Wait, you know scallion-head?”  


Scallion head? Your mind immediately went to an image of a scallion, and then of Kindaichi’s spiky hair and had to bite your lip to hold in a laugh. Now that Hinata had mentioned it, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to unsee the comparison.  


“Yeah, I’m still friends with Kindaichi and Kunimi even though they went to Seijou,” you said, trying to hold in your laughter.  


“Okay, I’ll see you at practice tomorrow, Kageyama! And it was nice meeting you!” Hinata said as the three of you reached the point where Hinata’s route home broke off from yours. You waved as he dashed down the street away from the two of you  


“Sorry, he’s kind of loud,” Kageyama said as the two of you continued on home.  


You shook your head. “I like that he’s so positive and happy. I’m glad that you have a friend like him.”  


Kageyama hummed in response before speaking. “How’ve you been? Since…you know.”  


“I missed you,” you answered honestly. “I mean, Kindaichi and Kunimi are great, but you’ve known me for a lot longer. I didn’t think we’d end up ever talking again after middle school graduation, but then I saw you at Karasuno and I couldn’t believe it. I thought you’d end up at Shiratorizawa, or if anything, Aoba Jousai.”  


“I didn’t get into Shiratorizawa,” Kageyama said, looking down. “They didn’t recruit me for volleyball, and I’m not been good at tests. My grades are bad and I didn’t think I could keep playing volleyball if I went to Seijou since the others from Kitagawa Daiichi didn’t like me.”  


“So you came to Karasuno to play volleyball?” you asked.  


Kageyama nodded. “There was a rumor that their old legendary coach was going to come back. We have his grandson now though, and he’s been helping the team a lot. I’m fine with being here now, I guess. The team is getting better every day, Hinata can keep up with my tosses, and…” He trailed off to look at you.  


“I’m glad that you’re at Karasuno, too. If not, we might’ve never made up,” you said, and he nodded sheepishly. “Geez, Tobio, you still freeze up whenever you talk about your feelings.”  


“It’s not like I do it often,” Kageyama said. “I only really talking about my, uh, feelings, when I’m with you, and since we fought, I haven’t really talked to anyone about it. The guys on the volleyball team think I’m some volleyball-setting machine.”  


“Really? Hinata doesn’t seem like that,” you said. “I think if you were to open up to him, or the rest of the team, you’d be surprised by how accepting they end up being.”  


Kageyama nodded slowly, considering your words. Your feet stopped as you reached the front of your house.  


“I guess it’s bye for today,” you said, hesitating. It felt like the way to your house hand ended far too soon. “It’s nice to be walking with you again.”  


Kageyama nodded. “Tomorrow morning…When do you normally leave for school?”  


“6:30,” you said. “But you don’t have to- “  


“I’ll just go to the gym early and practice serving until the others get there,” he said. His face turned slightly red. “I-I’m glad we’re friends again too.”  


You smiled as he left to continue down the street, towards his house. Who would’ve thought your day would turn out like this? Walking home with Kageyama knowing that you would see him again the next morning, it was like nothing had changed. Unlocking the door, you stepped inside as you closed it behind you. As you headed to your room, you looked at a picture frame that was on the corner of your desk. Inside was a picture of you and Kageyama from when you were kids. You were smiling, with him looking off a little to the side of the camera with an embarssed expression on his face. Despite not having spoken for so long, you hadn’t been able to bring yourself to throw away the image. Now, you were glad that it was there.  


It was nice to have him back.


	5. A Favor

“No way, stupid!” Kageyama exclaimed as Hinata pouted. They were walking home together, without you for once, as their practice had extended late into the evening.

“Come on, Kageyama,” Hinata insisted. “Don’t you want to go to Tokyo to play volleyball against Nekoma?” 

“Of course I do!” Kageyama said. “But that doesn’t mean I have to ask Tsukishima to help me study.” 

Takeda-sensei had dropped the news on them earlier that evening: the team was set to be going to Tokyo to train with their old rivals, Nekoma High School. But to Kageyama, Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka’s horror, the match would be on the same weekend as supplemental classes for those who failed their final exams. Having been completely engrossed in volleyball during the school year, the four of them had been planning to use the supplemental classes to get them through high school when they inevitably failed their finals. With the news of the practice match though, Kageyama knew that he had to pass his finals so he could train in Tokyo with the rest of the team. Through whatever means necessary, he needed to find a way to avoid failing so he could play against that quiet second-year Nekoma setter again. 

“Who else are we going to ask?” Hinata said. “Ennoshita-senpai and the other second years are busy helping Nishinoya and Tanaka. I don’t want to bother the third-years when they’re preparing for college exams, and it’s not like we have a ton of options to choose from. My non-volleyball friends aren’t exactly doing great in classes either.” 

“We’ll study on our own,” Kageyama said. “Our scores are bound to go up if we actually stay awake in class and do the homework.” 

“Yeah, but what about all the material that we already slept through?” Hinata said. “Besides, Kageyama, I’ve never scored in the double digits on an exam before. What’s the highest score you’ve gotten on a test high school?” 

“…25.”

“You think we’re going to be able to pass all our exams like this?” Hinata said. “Look, I don’t want to ask Tsukishima either, but I definitely want to go to Tokyo.” 

“Can’t we ask Yamaguchi? He can't be stupid if Tsukishima hangs out with him, right?” 

“I already asked him, but Yamaguchi said that he was barely making the cut to stay in the college prep class,” Hinata said. “He said he didn’t think he’d be able to bring up our scores. Apparently he gets help from Tsukishima all the time.” 

Kageyama sighed. Why did one of the smartest members of the volleyball team have to be such so snarky and rude? The scene was already playing out in Kageyama’s mind. If he and Hinata asked Tsukishima for help, Tsukishima would definitely make him repeat the request multiple times. For the rest of high school, Kageyama was sure that Tsukishima would continuously rub the fact in his face. Besides, what were the chances of Tsukishima even agreeing to tutor them? The guy made it pretty obvious that he thought he and Hinata were idiots and basically only spoke to them at volleyball practice. There had to be another option besides asking that prick. 

“Oh, I think I see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi up there!” Hinata said, dashing forward. Further down the street were two figures wearing the Karasuno uniform who turned around when Hinata called their names. 

“What do you want?” Tsukishima asked, lifting one side of his headphones from his ears. 

“Tsukishima, please help us study for finals!” Hinata said, bowing, as Kageyama caught up to him. “We need to pass so we can go to Tokyo with the rest of the team!" 

Tsukishima returned his headphones to their original position. “Huh? No way.” 

“What?” Hinata quickly looked up. “Please? It can be for less than an hour a day! Or at least, can you teach us how to study on our own!” 

“Tsukki, maybe you can just help them out a little before and after practice?” Yamaguchi said. He looked a little guilty, as if feeling bad for not being able to help the pair on his own. “It’ll be better for our team if they’re able to come to Tokyo with us too.” 

“Tch.” Tsukishima clicked his tongue before turning to Kageyama. “Isn’t it a little unfair that you’re asking the shrimp to ask for both of you?” 

“Come on Kageyama, ask him to help us,” Hinata hissed at him. 

Kageyama gritted his teeth. If only he had friends who were on the college-prep track like Tsukishima- 

“Hinata, we don’t need to ask this guy to help us,” Kageyama said, mentally berating himself for how long it had taken him to come to the realization. “There’s someone else who’ll probably be willing to help us out. I’ll ask her tonight.” 

“What?” Hinata stopped when he realized that Kageyama was already running down the street towards his house. “Hey! Kageyama!” 

“Since when did the King have friends outside of volleyball that he could ask for help?” Tsukishima said, watching Kageyama run off. “That had to be a bluff. When he realizes that he doesn’t have any other options, tell him that I’ll consider helping him if he asks me himself.”

***

Now that the rush of happiness at knowing he didn’t need to depend on Tsukishima had worn off, Kageyama was nervous again. He held his phone as he laid on his bed, his finger hesitating over your contact. The two of you had resumed your friendship, walking to and from school together on most days with Hinata, but was it too soon to call in such a huge favor? Would it seem like he apologized to you just so he could ask for your help? Kageyama sighed. It wasn’t like he had any other options. He definitely wasn't going back to ask Tsukishima for help. 

The phone rang twice before you picked up. “Hi Tobio.” 

“Hey.” He paused for a few seconds. “The volleyball team is going to Tokyo at the beginning of summer break to train with a school there.” 

“Oh, that sounds exciting,” you said. “Have fun!” 

“It’s on the same day as supplemental classes,” Kageyama said, forcing himself to get to the point. “If Hinata and I fail our finals, we can’t go.”

“You want me to help you and Hinata study?” you guessed. Kageyama nodded, before remembering that you couldn’t see him. 

“Yeah. If it isn’t too much trouble, I mean, I know you’re busy. You still have cram school and your own finals to worry about." Kageyama paused. What was he doing? Why was he asking for your time when you were already extremely busy with your own classes? Sure he was desparate, but how selfish was he to expect you to do even more for him? "Actually, forget it, we’ll figure something out-“ 

“Tobio,” you cut him off. “It’s no problem. Can you and Hinata come to my class during lunch tomorrow? We can figure out what you guys need to work on the most then.” 

Kageyama breathed out a sigh of relief. You didn't sound bothered by his request at all. You really were too nice to him. “Yeah. Thanks,” he said. “Thanks a lot.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” you said. “But did you really think I’d say no? I mean, I used to help you study all the time in middle school.” 

“I guess,” Kageyama said. “But aren’t you busier now? You have cram school on top of student council. And your classes are harder than mine."

“It’s really not that bad. I only have cram school on weeknights,” you said. “So I can you help you and Hinata during lunch and on the weekends. Really, don’t worry about it, Tobio. I want to help you to be able to go to Tokyo.” 

“Sorry for relying on your help so much. Both now and back in middle school,” Kageyama said. Hearing you laugh, his eyebrows furrowed. “What’s so funny?” 

“You apologize so much now for little things, it’s kind of unnerving!” you said. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. Friends help each other out! Anyways, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” 

Kageyama hung up after saying goodbye to you before texting Hinata that you were willing to tutor the two of them. It was still shocking to him how the two of you had basically resumed your friendship like nothing had ever changed in just a couple of weeks. With your morning and after-school walks together and now you being willing to tutor him again, he wondered how he had gotten through the first half of the school year without you. 

Rummaging around in his bag, Kageyama pulled out his math textbook. Normally, he used the time after practice to think about new plays that they could try or come up with ways he and Hinata could improve their quick. Homework was almost never finished before the next morning. Actually, he wasn’t sure if he had ever opened his math textbook outside of class. Groaning at the sight of all the equations that greeted him, he remembered why that was the case. Even so, the knowledge that you were willing to give up your time to help him had him reaching for his notebook and start working on the problems. It was the least he could do to return the favor to at least try and understand the material on his own. 


	6. Studying

“You know, King, I’m willing to help you out if you just ask nicely.”  


The first-years were gathered in the club room, changing out of their practice clothes into their school uniforms. Kageyama glared at Tsukishima, who had his ever-present smirk aimed at him.  


“I don’t need your held,” Kageyama said curtly.  


“Huh? So you and the shrimp are just going to take the failing grade and miss out on the training camp?” Tsukishima turned to Hinata. “I never thought I’d see the day where the two volleyball idiots missed out on a chance to play in a match.”  


“Hey! We’re not gonna fail!” Hinata said.  


Tsukishima looked unimpressed. “Didn’t you tell Sugawara-san that you’ve never scored in the double digits before? You do realize that isn’t enough to pass, right?”  


“That was before!” Hinata said. “Kageyama’s friend is gonna tutor us and we’re both gonna go to Tokyo!”  


“Really now,” Tsukishima said, clearly not believing Hinata’s words. “Since when did the King have friends? Unless you count your middle school teammates, but it didn’t look like the feeling was mutual.”  


Kageyama opened his mouth to tell Tsukishima to shut up, but Hinata beat him to it.  


“I'm his friend! Plus he has friends outside of volleyball too! He's friends with the class president!"   


Seeing Hinata defend him so quickly, Kageyama’s mind went back to how he felt lying on his bed after losing to Aoba Johsai, contemplating calling you to talk about how he felt. At the time, he’d questioned whether his teammates considered him a friend, or even liked him as a person if he didn’t have his volleyball skills. It seemed like that question had answered itself. At the very least, Hinata, by showing up at his house to walk with him that day, trying to help him learn how to apologize, and defending him from Tsukishima, thought of him as a friend. That thought was enough to lift his spirits despite Tsukishima’s disbelieving scoff.  


“How is a guy like you friends with the top student in our grade?”  


“We grew up together,” Kageyama replied shortly, grabbing his bag to leave the room. He stopped before the door, turning to face Tsukishima. “So Hinata and I are definitely going to pass and go to the training camp.”  


Kageyama was filled with determination as he headed towards the classroom. Now, not only did he want to make sure that he wasn’t wasting your time, he also wanted to prove to Tsukishima that he and Hinata could pass without his help.  


***

“Thanks for agreeing to tutor us,” Hinata said, as you slid into the seat in front of him. Kageyama pulled over an extra chair for himself as he sat down next to you.  


“It’s no problem, Hinata,” you said, trying to ignore the stares of their classmates. The three of you had met up in Hinata and Kageyama's class for lunch, just as you had promised. You heard whispers of, “What’s the class president doing in our class?” and “Why is she sitting with Kageyama and Hinata? Does she like volleyball?” and you did your best to block them out. “I used to do this all the time with Tobio back in middle school whenever we had a big test.”  


“Wow Kageyama, you were always this bad at school?” Hinata teased.  


“At least I’m not as bad at you!” Kageyama shot back, though his cheeks still turned red at Hinata’s words.  


“Oh! Didn’t you guys get your math tests back today?” you asked, and Hinata nodded. “Can I see them? I want to know what you guys are having trouble with the most.”  
Hinata dug in his bag to pull out a crumpled sheet of paper.  


“This is the best I’ve ever done on a math test!” Hinata said excitedly. “I actually studied for it, too!”  


“That’s great!” you said with a smile that you fought to keep when you saw his score. Your breath hitched in your throat as you took in all of the red marks on the sheet. You hadn’t even thought it was possible to score a 11/100 on a multiple-choice test.  


“Tobio,” you said quickly. “Can I take a look at yours?”  


Kageyama hesitated. “I-It didn’t go that well,” he said, looking down. “So don’t be disappointed or anything.”  


“I’m not judging you,” you said softly. “I know you’ve been focusing on volleyball this year. But I need to see your score, so I know how to help you.”  


Your words seemed to have the desired effect as he reluctantly handed you a piece of paper. You tried your best to keep your expression neutral when you saw his score. 26. Sure, it was better than Hinata’s, but you still had your work cut out for you.  


Kageyama couldn’t bring himself to look at the expression on your face. Any confidence he had felt that morning talking to Tsukishima about passing had disappeared the moment he had gotten his test back. He had known he hadn’t done great, but a 26? Even he knew that he was unacceptable. Kageyama knew that you’d been a straight-A student in middle school and probably were still one now. You had said that you wouldn’t judge him, but how could you not? Tsukishima’s words from earlier came back to him. Why was someone like you friends with a guy like him?  


“To pass your class so you can go to the training camp,” you said. “What do you need to score on the math final?”  


“At least a forty,” Hinata said, opening his lunchbox. His tone was nonchalant, as if it were an easy task. Sometimes, Kageyama had no idea how Hinata found the confidence to sound so carefree all the time. Didn’t the guy ever get worried?  


“I know it was a lot to ask,” Kageyama said. “Sorry. You probably didn’t think our scores were this bad when you agreed. You don’t have to do this.”  


“You apologize too much,” you said. “Of course I’m still going to help you guys.”  


“Yeah Kageyama,” Hinata said, stuffing some rice into his mouth. “Besides a forty isn’t even that bad. Tanaka-senpai got a 40 on his last math exam. If he can do it, we definitely can too!”  


“The highest score you’ve ever gotten is an eleven, stupid,” Kageyama said. “You’re going to need to do close to four times better than that to pass!”  


“Yeah, well now I’ll be actually paying attention and studying!” Hinata said.  


Tuning them out for a moment, you scanned each of their tests to assess their errors. Hinata had more mistakes, but his tended to be careless, like forgetting a negative sign or making a simple addition error at the very end of the problem. Kageyama’s errors came from misunderstanding some of the big concepts on the exam that led him to make mistakes in almost every problem. You instructed Hinata to redo some of the problems after going over his errors, before explaining one of the concepts to Kageyama.  


“Does that make sense?” you asked, looking up at Kageyama who had his head between his hands in concentration.  
“…Yeah.”  


Kageyama had always been a bad liar, and you had been telling him so for as long as you had been friends. “You know, if you don’t understand something it’s better if you tell me so honestly.”  


Kageyama was silent for a moment before speaking. “I get the first half of what you said, but I don’t understand the second half.”  


“Okay, let’s go over it again,” you said, rethinking your explanation. The hour of lunch seemed to fly by as you switched between explaining things to Kageyama and then looking over Hinata’s work when Kageyama worked on the practice problems that you assigned.  


“Really? I got them all right?” Hinata said as you nodded, handing him back his paper.  


“Yeah. I think you just need to make sure you’re not rushing,” you said. “You understand the concepts so far. Just make sure you keep paying attention in class and doing the homework.”  


Kageyama, on the other hand, was still struggling. You had made some progress over the past hour, but you could see him getting increasingly frustrated as half of his practice problems were wrong.  


“Hey, Tobio,” you said at last. “Do you want to come over and study this weekend? We’ll have more time to go over everything then. I’ll still come for lunch but I think it might help you to have extra time to review.”  


Kageyama slowly nodded, hand tightening around his pencil at the knowledge that you had picked up on his confusion with the material. Why couldn’t math be like volleyball, where everything made sense and seemed to naturally fall in place? Any confidence he had about being able to pass the class to go to Tokyo was completely gone now. He couldn’t believe that even Hinata was doing better than him now. As smart as you were, he knew that you weren’t a miracle worker. Was he going to be the only member of the team who would be left behind, unable to go to Tokyo because of his grade?  


“Don’t worry,” you said, as if reading his thoughts. “I’m going to make sure that you pass so you can go to Tokyo, no matter how long it takes.”  


***

“Do you think I’m stupid?”  


“Huh?” You looked at Kageyama, who was staring at the ground as the two of you walked home that day. Kageyama had said that Hinata had been called to stay behind by their coach for goofing off too much during practice with the second-years. “Of course I don’t think you’re stupid. Why would you ask that?”  


“I don’t know. I’m always asking for your help to pass school. You’re in the college-prep class and I’m not. I got a 26 on a multiple choice math test, which is close to what you’d get even if you were just guessing randomly.”  


“Yeah, but you can figure out in a split-second who on your team you should toss the ball to in order to score a point,” you said. “You can memorize all those hand signals about what strategy you should use next. You can get your body to move so that the ball does exactly what you want it to. I can’t do any of that. I’m not smarter than you, we’re just good at different things.”  


Kageyama nodded, though the expression on his face didn’t change. You let the two of you continue to walk in silence for another block before you spoke. “Where did that question come from?”  


“Nowhere. It’s stupid.”  


“Your feelings aren’t stupid.”  


Kageyama sighed, as if realizing that you weren’t just going to let the matter drop. “Sometimes I wonder why you’re friends with me,” he said slowly. He glanced at you quickly, checking your expression, before lowering his gaze again. “All I do is ask you for help and I know that I can be a jerk sometimes and I’m not good at expressing how I feel. You’re busy with student council and college prep stuff, and you have Kunimi, Kindaichi, and all your class friends. You don’t need me. I don’t know why you’re willing to give me so much of your time.”  


“I missed you when we weren’t talking,” you said. “I mean, sure I had Kunimi and Kindaichi but it wasn’t the same. I was so glad when we finally made up. I like talking to you because you’re honest and straight to the point, it’s cool that you care so much about volleyball and work really hard at it, and even though you’d never admit it, you’d basically do anything for your teammates. I help you out because we’re friends, just like how you help Hinata out with his receives because you’re his friend, right?”  


He nodded, though with a strange expression on his face. “You think it’s cool that I care about volleyball? You don’t think I’m just a dumb volleyball idiot?”  


“Of course not,” you said. “No one thinks you’re a dumb volleyball idiot.”  


“Yeah, except for Tsukishima and everyone else in the school who isn’t on the team," he muttered.   


“Please, the female population of Karasuno would beg to disagree. You should’ve heard the girls in my class that day you came to talk to me.” You rolled your eyes and put on your best high-pitched imitation voice. “Oh my god, is that Kageyama-kun? Isn’t he so tall and good-looking? He’s a regular on the volleyball team even though he’s a first-year right? He’s so cool!”  


Kageyama immediately turned bright red. “That didn’t happen.”  


“It did. I had to listen to them whispering about you for the entire next period,” you said, grinning. “It’s too bad they don’t know about how easily you get embarrassed, though. I can’t wait until ten of them confess to you on Valentine’s Day. I think your head might explode if you turned that red.”  


“S-Shut up!”


	7. "I Don't Have a Girlfriend!"

The street was empty when Kageyama arrived in front of your house on Saturday morning. Shifting his bag that contained all of his textbooks, he stepped up to the entrance to press the doorbell. It was a strange feeling, to be back here after such a long time. Yet, at the same time, it felt like nothing had changed when you opened the door with a smile on your face.  


“Come in,” you said, holding the door open for him.  


Kageyama did as you said, silently taking in the interior of your home. It looked basically the same as he remembered. Following you to the dining room table, he set his bag down.  


“How has class been going?” you asked, pulling a chair out next to him. “You had a history quiz that you got back yesterday, right?”  


Kageyama nodded, rummaging in his bag to hand you his quiz. A grin split across your face as you saw the score.  


“45!” you exclaimed. “That’s so much better than you said you did on the last quiz!”  


“It’s because you helped me memorize what all the important dates were,” Kageyama muttered, blushing at the praise. “I would’ve failed without that.”  


“I’m glad it worked,” you said, handing him his test back. “But history is normally one of your worst subjects, right? It’s great that you’re doing better in it!”  


Kageyama nodded stiffly, looking down at his test. He knew that in the grand scheme of things, a 45 really wasn’t a great score, but it was the best he had ever done on any history test, ever. The swell of pride that filled him when he had gotten his test back was like how he felt when he and Hinata had finally gotten their quick to work. It was a nice to work hard at something and then see results that reflected that. Your elated expression was just a bonus to add to his already happy mood.  


“So, let’s take a look at some of that math homework,” you said, taking the textbook that he handed you. You flipped through the pages. “You seemed to understand up to unit five pretty well. Can you try doing some of these questions for unit six so I can see what you remember?”  


Kageyama nodded and started on the practice problems. You watched him work, pointing out any small errors that he made, as the two of you slowly worked through the unit. As frustrating as math was, Kageyama had to admit that it was much more bearable when you were there to help him. For the first time ever, he found himself being able to study without checking the clock every ten minutes. It was only when his stomach growled, making him freeze in embarrassment, that he realized how long the two of you had been studying.  


“S-Sorry,” he stammered.  


You laughed. “I’m actually getting hungry too. Give me a second, I have leftovers from last night that I can warm up. You deserve a break, anyways.”  


A few minutes later, Kageyama found himself eating leftover curry with you, his textbooks pushed to the side of the table for later.  


“How’s volleyball going?” you asked. “Hinata seemed pretty frustrated after practice the other day.”  


Kageyama swallowed the rice that was in his mouth. “That’s because he sucks at receiving. He misses half the balls that our coach throws at him.”  


“That must be rough,” you mused. “I have no idea how you guys manage to run around for hours after school every day.”  


“I have no idea how you study so much every day. You have school all day and then you go to cram school in the evenings, and you tutor me and Hinata during lunch on top of doing your school homework.”  


You shrugged. “I guess it’s fun for me, like how volleyball is for you.”  


“You think doing math problems for hours is fun?” Kageyama looked at you as if you had grown another head.  


“Okay, maybe not practice problems,” you agreed. “But I like school generally because you get to learn new things. Every day, you get to learn something new about the world that you didn’t know before. That’s pretty cool, don’t you think?”  


“A lot of it seems useless,” Kageyama said honestly. “I mean, no one in volleyball cares how well you can write kanji as long as you can play well.”  


“I guess that makes sense when it comes to sports,” you said. “But since I'm not sure about what I want to do in the future, there’s always a chance that I'll end up using whatever I learn in my classes.”  


“You don’t know what you want to do?” Kageyama asked, surprised. You, out of all people, seemed like the type to have had a plan for your future drawn out in detail. You were always so organized, on top of things, and you were even class president. While the two of you only ever made plans that extended to high school back when you were at Kitagawa Daiichi (his plan had obviously been to go to Shiratorizawa for volleyball and you had wanted to go to Karauno on the college-prep track), he had just assumed that you’d made plan for college and beyond since then.  


“Yeah. I’m planning on going to college but other than that, I don’t really know,” you said. “There are just so many things that I think are interesting and would be cool to study in depth! I guess your plan is still completely dedicated to volleyball, right?”  


Kageyama nodded. “I’m not really good at anything else, and it’s not like I’m going to go to college with my grades.”  


“That sounds kind of nice,” you admitted. “To know what you want to do for the rest of your life already. I think it’s pretty amazing how dedicated you and Hinata are to volleyball.”  


“And you’re just as dedicated to school,” he said. “Weren’t you the one who said that we’re good at different things, but not better, or something like that?”  


You smiled at him. “Yeah. I guess that’s true.”  


Kageyama helped you wash the dishes before settling down in his chair, opening up his Modern Literature textbook. The two of you had agreed that you would use weekends to focus on his weakest subjects: math, modern literature, and history, if his grades fell in that class again. Seeing the wall of text that greeted him when he flipped to the right page, he groaned. He hated comprehension exams.  


“Come on, Tobio,” you said encouragingly, seeing his expression. “You can do it. Do it so you can go to Tokyo!”  


Kageyama sighed. Right. For volleyball, he’d basically anything, though your encouragement was definitely an added bonus. Kageyama knew that there wasn't much that he was good at outside of volleyball. He wasn’t very social, he was blunt and didn't think before he spoke, and his grades were near the bottom of the class. Yet, you still looked at him and talked to him like you believed in his ability to pass completely. It was the look that his team gave him on the court, with complete trust in his setting abilities, but that was at least warranted through his volleyball abilities. What were you basing your belief in his grades on? The 45 he’d gotten on his history quiz? Your complete faith in him honestly scared him a little. What had he ever done to earn that level of faith and trust?  


_Nothing,_ he thought. You believe in him not because he had earned it, but because you were the kind of person who was able to see the good in everyone. It was like when you forgave him despite him not having done anything to earn it. You were such a better person than him, especially comparing his cynical and callous personality to your nurturing and kind one. How had he gotten you to befriend him, let alone spend so much time with him?  


Heat rose to his cheeks at the thought. Besides Hinata, he hardly ever spent time with anyone else one-one-one. Most people wouldn’t have been able to handle just being around him for so long given how quiet he was. Yet, you voluntarily chose to spend your weekend with him.  


“Tobio? Are you okay?” Your voice snapped Kageyama out of his thoughts as he nodded, realizing that his pencil had stopped moving.  


“Y-Yeah.”  


He got back to working on the practice questions with renewed vigor, though he was now acutely aware of the fact that the two of you had basically spent the entire day together alone. Despite him repeating over and over silently that “this is what friends do,” and “she’s just helping me studying so I don’t completely fail,” the blush didn’t seem to fade from his cheeks.  


***  


“So, there’s only a week to go before final exams,” Sugawara said, coming up to Kageyama in the clubroom after practice a few weeks later. “How’s the studying going?”  


Kageyama stiffened at Sugawara’s words. His grades had improved dramatically ever since you had started helping him and Hinata, with him consistently scoring in the 40s on all of his quizzes. He had even pulled off a 55 on a math test. Given that he needed a 40 to be able to go to Tokyo, you had assured him that he had nothing to worry about on the final. He had nodded along with your words, though he didn’t agree. He would only be able to do as well on the final if he was able to continue absorbing the new material, and his mind had been wandering even more often recently. He found himself replaying conversations with you in his mind during math, or spacing out during literatureas he looked forward to seeing you at lunch or after school. Even during your tutoring sessions, he had found himself getting distracted whenever you smiled at him for a good test score, as his heart would start beating faster for some unknown reason. Especially in the last week, he found it becoming harder to remember what you had taught him and his scores were starting to go down again. The worst part was that even you couldn’t figure out what was causing a decline in his grades all of a sudden.  


“If they can’t pass this time, they’re completely hopeless,” Tsukishima said from behind them. “He’s getting tutored by his girlfriend, who’s the top of the college-prep class.”  


“Kageyama you have a _girlfriend?_ ” Sugawara exclaimed, piquing the attention of everyone who was in the club room.  


“What?”  


“How?”  


“Who?”  


“Congrats Kageyama!” Daichi said, slapping him on the back.  


“Huh? I-“ Kageyama stammered, immediately turning bright red as the team surrounded him with questions. “I don’t have a girlfriend!”  


“Uh huh,” Tsukishima said. “So why are you sitting with a girl at lunch every day and not looking like you want to kill someone for once?”  


_“What?”_ Tanka and Nishinoya exclaimed.  


“She’s helping me and Hinata study for finals, stupid!” Kageyama said. “You knew that I asked her to help us study because I didn’t want to ask you!”  


“So you developed a crush on the girl you asked to help you out with final exams?” Sugawara asked. “You know, that’s really cliché, but it’s still cute!”  


“No! We’re just childhood friends! We went to middle school together!”  


“Oh really? And that’s why I always see you spacing out and staring at her when you’re supposed to be “studying” when I walk past your class?” Tsukishima’s smirk seemed to be lost on the rest of the team, who were still reeling at the news, but Kageyama knew that he was just trying to rile him up.  


“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kageyama said, sending him the most menacing glare he could manage.  


“Look, he’s blushing!” Nishinoya said. “I get it, she’s not your girlfriend yet, right? Tsukishima, don’t tease the poor guy about his crush. Though, Kageyama, you should’ve said something earlier. 

Your senpai will help you out!”  


“Aw, Kageyama, you’re growing up so fast,” Sugawara said, ruffling his hair. “Take a seat, everyone. An issue with one of our teammate’s love lives is an issue for the entire team.”  


“I have a test tomorrow so I’m going to head out,” Tsukishima said, with Yamaguchi following him. Kageyama didn’t miss how hard Tsukishima seemed to be trying to hold in his laugher. He glared at his back until Tsukishima was completely out of sight.  


“Suga-san, he’s just messing with you all, I don’t- “ Kageyama tried to explain, though he was cut off by a torrent of questions.  


“So who is it?” Tanaka asked. “I hope you’re nicer to them than you are to Hinata!”  


“Wait, Kageyama, the two of you are dating?” Hinata asked, finally catching onto who Tsukishima had been talking about. “But she’s so…nice!”  


“What’s that supposed to mean, stupid?” Kageyama growled. “And I already said, we’re not dating. We’re just friends! We know each other from before high school and I asked her to help Hinata and I study because she’s in college-prep and anyone would be a better tutor than Tsukishima!”  


“What? So you don’t like her?” Hinata said, disappointed. “But you turn red all the time when we study together!”  


“I don’t!” Kageyama said, though he could feel himself blushing from embarrassment even as he spoke.  


“And you got so nervous the first time you talked to her this year,” Hinata continued, before Kageyama flung a jacket at his face in retaliation. “Hey!”  


“It sounds to me like someone is in denial,” Tanaka said, laughing.  


“I’m not!”  


“There’s nothing wrong with liking someone, y’know,” Nishinoya said. “Come on, what do you like about this ‘childhood friend’ of yours? There has to be something if you’ve been friends for so long.”  


“She’s smart and nice,” Kageyama mumbled. “And forgiving. And doesn’t make fun of me for being stupid. And- “  


“Do you think she’s pretty?” Tanaka cut in.  


An image of your face flashed in Kageyama’s mind. The way your forehead scrunched up when you were trying to find another way to explain a math problem to him, the way the sun hit your hair when you were walking home during sunset, and most of all, how you’d smiled at him when the two of you were studying together. “I-I guess.”  


The sight of Tanaka and Nishinoya giving each other a high-five snapped him back to reality, as he realized he’d just made a huge mistake.  


“So, it looks like our dear underclassman does have a crush,” Tanaka teased. “Hinata! You study with them, right? Your job is to be Kageyama’s wingman!”  


“A wingman!” Hinata exclaimed. “What’s that?”  


“It means your job is to make Kageyama look cool in front of his crush,” Nishinoya said. “You want her to notice all the cool things about Kageyama and cover for him when he does something stupid.”  


“Yeah,” Sugawara said. “Like if I were Daichi’s wingman and helping him hit on Asahi, I’d say things like, “You know, Daichi is a really good captain for the volleyball team,” and “he’s always working out so he can look good.””  


“Suga, I think the second one sounds more like you’re hitting on Daichi yourself,” Asahi said.  


“Just talk about Kageyama and volleyball,” Daichi suggested. “Girls tend to like guys who are good at sports.”  


“And don’t let Kageyama lose his temper around her,” Sugawara said. “People generally don’t like getting yelled at.”  


Hinata nodded, before turning to Kageyama. “I’m gonna be the best wingman ever!”  


Kageyama sighed, realizing that no matter what he said, the team wasn’t going to budge. It didn’t matter, anyways. He didn’t like you like that; you were just friends, and anything the team attempted to do wasn't going to change that. It was completely expected that he had been nervous the first time he approached you in high school because it was his first time apologizing to anyone. It was to be expected that he got nervous and turned red sometimes when you were helping him study, given that he was doing something he was extremely bad at in front of you. And what kind of friend would he be if he said you weren’t pretty, right? He nodded to himself. He was just being a good friend by agreeing that he thought you were pretty. That was all.  


His red-tipped ears and the warmth in his cheeks as his teammates continued to talk about how to help him win you over didn’t mean anything, he told himself, as he tuned out their chatter. It wasn’t like he would ever need their advice on how to win you over romantically. He wouldn’t need it since he wasn’t interested in you like that. There was no way that he had a crush on his childhood friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we're already at the halfway point to this story! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story so far, and especially those of you who have left comments, kudos, and bookmarks. It definitely makes the writing experience more fun and I can't wait to share the rest of the it with you all. Thank you all for reading!


	8. Wingman

“Okay," you said, closing the modern literature textbook in front of you. “I think we’ve covered everything you guys will need to know. Try to use this last week to review everything we’ve gone over and you should be fine.”  


It was the next day, marking a week from the beginning of final exams. You scanned over the list of everything you had wanted to go over with the two of them before the tests. Every item had a check mark next to it. You were certain that you had prepared the two to the best of your abilities.  


“We’re going to pass for sure and go to Tokyo!” Hinata exclaimed.  


“Thanks for helping us so much,” Kageyama said, looking over his notes one last time while taking a sip from his milk box.  


You nodded. “I know you’ve been worried about your scores going down recently,” you said. “But I’m sure you can get them back up again! Just think back to what you were doing when they first started going up.”  


“I’ll try,” Kageyama said. He really had been trying, doing everything he could to keep his mind focused in class when it started to wander to you. His attempts seemed to be futile though, as he found himself spacing out more and more often.  


“Hey,” Hinata said, catching your attention. “Did you know that Kageyama works out a lot?”  


Kageyama choked, the milk box nearly falling out of his hand. He coughed as you worriedly patted his back.  


“Tobio, are you okay?” you exclaimed, as he nodded, still panting. You turned to Hinata. “I guess that isn’t surprising. I mean, you guys are on a sports team so you have to stay in shape, right?”  


Hinata nodded, though he still looked deep in thought. Kageyama managed to get his breathing back to normal, though he was glaring at Hinata. His face was still red when you handed him a napkin.  


“Oh, you should come see us play in the Spring Tournament!” Hinata said to you. “You can watch Kageyama!”  


“Huh? Yeah, I was planning on going,” you said. “Some of my friends at Aoba Johsai are playing, and I have to support you guys, of course!”  


“Kageyama looks really cool when he’s playing setter,” Hinata said. “And when he serves, he jumps really high and he hits the ball really hard and all the girls think he’s really cool- “  


Hinata was cut off by the sound of the bell signaling the end of lunch. A beet-red Kageyama literally grabbed Hinata out of his chair and pulled towards the door even before the bell finished ringing.  


“Shut up, stupid,” you heard him muttering to Hinata. “Forget what Suga-san and Tsukishima said! None of it’s true!”  


***  


Kageyama was alone when you met up with him at the end of the day.  


“You waited for me?” he asked, a surprised expression on his face. “I thought you didn’t have any student council activities today.”  


“I didn’t, but I decided to stay late at the library to study anyways,” you said. The truth was that most of your time at the library had been spent distractedly daydreaming, something that had been happening to you a lot more recently. You used to never have problems focusing, but ever since you had started tutoring Kageyama and Hinata, your mind seemed to be constantly replaying the conversations you had with them, and especially those with Kageyama. Today, the scene of him trying to figure out a modern literature question when he had come over on Sunday while his mouth scrunched up refused to leave your head. Not to mention the way he always blushed so easily, especially when Hinata started complimenting him during lunch. _It’s kind of cute_ , you thought, stifling a smile. Not that you would ever tell him.  


Kageyama had admirers since middle school, which wasn’t surprising considering his height, athleticism, and introverted nature that girls seemed to think was “mysterious.” You hadn’t failed to notice his growth spurt since then, how his features had matured over the years, and that all of that volleyball practice was definitely showing. You knew that he meant more to you now than just a childhood friend but told yourself that it was just a harmless crush that was one-sided on your part. He was completely focused on volleyball with little room for anything else. Even if he had time in his life for dating, you were just his friend, the one who was always there for him. You’d get over your crush eventually, given the reality that he would never reciprocate your feelings.  


“Let’s go. Hinata is screwing around with the crazy second-years again,” Kageyama said.  


“What was Hinata going on about earlier at lunch?” you asked as Kageyama’s expression froze.  


“N-Nothing. He’s just being stupid.”  


“It sounded like he was trying to start up a fan club for you or something,” you teased. “Is part of your volleyball strategy to increase your fangirls to a crazy group like Oikawa-san from middle school?”  


“I don’t have fangirls,” Kageyama muttered, looking down.  


“Yeah, like there won’t be a bunch of Karasuno girls going to the Spring Tournament just to watch you play.”  


“There won’t be!”  


“I’m kidding, Tobio,” you laughed. “But don’t worry. If your fangirls ever get too crazy, I’ll be sure to protect you. I’m sure Hinata will help too.”  


“That idiot is too short to protect anyone,” Kageyama said.  


“Yeah…Wait, I’m shorter than him!” you exclaimed.  


“You’re both short.”  


“Wow, and here I was thinking you’ve gone soft and was going to start being nicer to all of us,” you said, rolling your eyes.  


“Sorry.”  


You glanced over at Kageyama, who had a ghost of a smile on his lips. _He looks even better when he smiles,_ you thought, looking away as you felt your cheeks warm. _It’s just a harmless crush._ The two of you were only friends; walking home like this, helping him study, and making jokes about your height was the closest you would ever get to him.  


_It’s just a harmless crush. I’ll get over him eventually,_ you repeated in your head again and again as you walked side-by-side. When you finally parted ways in front of your house, you sighed, opening the door. Even to you, it sounded like you were trying to convince yourself that you would find a way to get over him.


	9. Third-Year Parents

“And at the end of it all, we basically lost all of our matches but our team got a lot better and we’re definitely gonna go to Nationals!” Hinata finished.  


“You sound way too excited about us having lost so much, stupid,” Kageyama said. It was the week after Karasuno had gone to Tokyo to train with Nekoma High School. Despite no longer having exams to study for, you still chose to eat with the two of them as they recounted all of their successes and frustrations from the camp.  


“We were working on our new moves so it’s normal for us to have lost so much!” Hinata shot back.  


“Well, it’s amazing that you two managed to make it to Tokyo for the camp even after you had to take your supplemental exam,” you said. While you had been shocked to hear that both of them had failed an exam at first, you understood why after hearing why they had failed. Hinata had accidentally filled in his answers in the wrong rows, so most of his questions were counted as wrongs despite him being able to do the math correctly. Kageyama had been doing well in Modern Literature until then, but the exam had been completely different from the previous quizzes, leaving him unprepared to answer most of the questions. Kageyama had called you after they had taken their supplemental exams at Hinata’s insistence, explaining to you that they had found a ride to go to Tokyo and participate anyways.  


“It’s because of you that we only had to take one,” Hinata said. “I can’t believe I just shifted all my answers by one row and failed! I didn’t fail because I didn’t know what was on the test!”  


“A fail is still a fail,” Kageyama said.  


“No way!” Hinata exclaimed. “Failing because you filled in the wrong circles is a lot better than failing because you don’t understand Modern Literature!”  


“How was I supposed to know that it was going to be a comprehension-based exam? All of the quizzes until now in that class have been memorization-based!”  


“Well, _I_ didn’t fail!”  


“Wow, you two are even fighting during lunch? I have no idea where you get that kind of energy.”  


You looked up to see two older-looking students that you didn’t recognize approaching the three of you. Kageyama and Hinata, on the other hand, seemed to know who they were.  


Kageyama’s spoke first. “Captain! What are you doing here?”  


“And Suga-san!” Hinata exclaimed. “What are you doing in the first-years’ wing? Are we having lunch practice too?”  


“No, nothing like that,” Sugawara said. “You two need to rest at least during the school day or you’ll end up passing out one day during practice.”  


“We’re just here to thank the person who managed to tutor the two of you well enough to pass almost all of your classes. Knowing you two, it must’ve been a lot of work and our team benefited a lot from all of us being able to go to Tokyo,” Daichi said, turning to you. “My name is Daichi Sawamura, and I’m the captain of the volleyball team. Thanks for helping these two out.”  


“It’s nice to meet you Sawamura-senpai,” you said, standing up to shake his hand. “And it was no problem. I’m used to helping Tobio out from Kitagawa Daiichi and Hinata is a lot of fun to be around.”  


“Well, you’re a lifesaver! I’m Koushi Sugawara, the vice-captain,” Sugawara said. “How’d Kageyama get someone nice like you to be his friend?”  


“Suga-san-” Kageyama started, his face starting to turn red.  


“I’m just kidding,” Sugawara said, ruffling Kageyama’s hair fondly.  


“Actually, we were hoping to borrow Kageyama for a moment too,” Daichi said. “Can you come out to the hallway for a moment? Hinata, you can come too.”  


Kageyama nodded and followed Daichi out of the room with Hinata and Sugawara.  


“Wow, Hinata was right! He really does turn red easily in front of her!” Sugawara exclaimed as soon as they were outside of the classroom. He clapped Kageyama on the back. “Congrats Kageyama! The girl you like is cute!”  


“W-What?” Kageyama’s face was on fire at Sugawara’s words. “Is this what the two of you actually came here for?”  


“Well, it’s our job as third-years to make sure our first-years are doing well, both in and outside of the volleyball club,” Sugawara said proudly.  


“Suga wouldn’t stop bugging me until I agreed to come meet her with him,” Daichi admitted.  


“Hey, you wouldn't have agreed to come if you weren't at least a little interested too! Besides, I needed to see the potential love interest for my first-year setter for myself,” Sugawara said. “But don’t worry, I approve!”  


“Why do I need your approval?” Kageyama said. “And I told you, we’re just friends!”  


“Kageyama,” Daichi said with a sigh. “I didn’t want to say this to your face, but I think it’s better if you know. You’re an awful liar. You’re even worse than Asahi, and that’s saying a lot.”  


“There’s no need to lie to us. It’s completely normal for you to start liking girls in high school,” Sugawara said. “I can’t wait for the two of you to get together! You’re going to be so cute!”  


“Suga, you’re just assuming that she likes him too,” Daichi whispered. “We don’t know that this is anything more than one-sided.”  


“What? You’re telling me that there’s someone who wouldn’t like Kageyama?” Sugawara exclaimed. “Come on, I mean he and Hinata are hot-headed and are the definition of volleyball idiots, but any girl would be lucky to have you, Kageyama. Besides, you have Hinata as your wingman, right?”  


“Kageyama kept telling me to shut up when I was trying to help him the other day,” Hinata complained.  


“That’s because you were being stupid, stupid!” Kageyama said to him.  


“No I wasn’t! I was helping to get her to like you!”  


“Suga, maybe we’re going about this the wrong way,” Daichi said. “Kageyama is a quieter guy. Maybe we need to help him come up with a method that’s more subtle.”  


“You’re right!” Sugawara said. “It was wrong to have someone else try and hint at the fact that you like her for you. Kageyama, you should just confess on your own!”  


"Suga, that's not what I meant-" Daichi started, but he was cut off by Kageyama. 

“What? No way!” Kageyama felt like his head was just moments away from exploding. “I told you, I don’t have a crush! There’s nothing to confess!”  


“Kageyama,” Sugawara said, slinging one arm over his shoulder. “Picture this. It’s Valentine’s Day. It’s the day that all the girls have chocolates to confess to their crushes. This girl you liked hand-made hers the night before, and it took her a long time.”  


Sugawara then sent a pointed look at Daichi, coughing. Daichi sighed but placed a hand on Kageyama's other shoulder, continuing Sugawara's speech. “You see her bringing her chocolate in a nicely-wrapped box to school. You come to classroom 1-4 to see her for lunch, but you see her with the box of chocolate. You get excited, because she’s sitting where she normally sits, and you think it might be for you.”  


“But then, you see her stand up and grab the box!” Sugawara said. “You watch as she goes up to some other boy in her class and confess to them. How does that make you feel?”  


“It’s someone else in 1-4 that you don’t like,” Daichi added. “Maybe it’s _Tsukishima._ ”  


Kageyama felt himself take in a sharp breath. There was a strange feeling in his chest that he couldn’t name. It wasn’t anger. Instead, it reminded him of how he felt when he saw Oikawa playing volleyball, being able to draw out the abilities of his spikers in a way that Kageyama was never able to in middle school. It was the feeling that Oikawa had something that he desperately wanted but 

Kageyama couldn’t have.  


“Now,” Sugawara said softly. “Do you want to tell her how you feel before this awful scenario happens?”  


Kageyama felt like he’d lost all control over his body. He felt himself nodding before he could stop himself, his ears turning red all the way to the tips as he did so.  


“Finally!” Sugawara said triumphantly. “He admits it!”  


“Don’t worry Kageyama,” Daichi said. “Your upperclassmen are all here to help you out. Especially Suga.”  


“We’ll see you at practice!” Sugawara said, giving Kageyama one last pat on the shoulder. “We’re all going to help you plan out the best confession ever!”  


Kageyama felt his hands shake, trying to stop it by balling them into fists, as Sugawara shot him a wink before he and Daichi left. The scenario that Daichi and Sugawara had described to him was still replaying in his head. The idea of you and that snarky, rude, know-it-all Tsukishima getting together made him want to spike a volleyball as hard as he could into the ground, or better, Tsukishima’s face.  


“Hey Kageyama, are you okay?” Hinata asked. “You look really red.”  


Kageyama didn’t respond, instead rushing back into the classroom where you were still waiting for them.  


“What do you think of Tsukishima?” he demanded.  


“Huh?” You blinked at him. “The tall, blonde guy with the glasses in my class?”  


“Yeah. What do you think of him?”  


“I don’t know, I don’t really talk to him,” you said with a shrug. “He’s really tall and seems pretty smart but he only hangs out with Yamaguchi. He’s on your volleyball team, right? Is that why you’re asking?”  


“So you don’t like him?”  


“I don’t dislike him, I guess. I don’t really have an opinion on someone that I don’t talk to.”  


“Not like that.” Kageyama took in a deep breath. “I mean, do you have a crush on him?”  


There was a moment of silence before you laughed. “Tobio, how can I like someone that I’ve hardly talked to before?”  


Kageyama felt the tension leech out of his shoulders as he sat down, aware that both you and Hinata were watching him intently, with confused expressions on your faces. “I was just…wondering.”  


“You’re so weird,” you said, laughing again. Kageyama remained silent as you and Hinata quickly began talking about something else. The overwhelming feeling of jealousy seemed to leave his body, his hands no longer shaking, but the heat in his face still remained. Though he would never admit it out loud, Kageyama bit his lip at the understanding that Sugawara, the volleyball team, and even Tsukishima were right.  


He did have a crush on his childhood friend.


	10. Advice

“So why do we all have to stay after practice?” Tsukishima asked. Practice had ended half an hour ago, but all the members of the Karasuno Men’s Volleyball Team were seated around the small table in the clubroom. After Ukai and Takeda-sensei left, Sugawara had asked them all to gather in the club room for a “very important meeting.”  


“Thank you all for staying,” Sugawara said. “I asked you all to stay late tonight because we have a very important topic to discuss: Operation Help Kageyama Confess to His Crush!”  


Kageyama turned bright red at the statement as next to him, Tanaka and Nishinoya started laughing, pointing at Kageyama’s face. Tsukishima sighed, his face making it clear that he’d rather be anywhere else. Daichi was staring straight at the wall, as if trying to ignore what Sugawara had just said, and Ennoshita seemed uncomfortable about the topic, looking downward. Asahi looked even more embarrassed than Kageyama did. Hinata and Yamaguchi were looking at Sugawara excitedly, like he had just told them the most interesting news in the world.  


“Daichi and I went to the first-years’ wing of the school today at lunch,” Sugawara said.  


“Don’t say it like it was my idea too!” Daichi said. “You wouldn’t stop bugging me until I agreed to go with you!”  


“It was important!” Sugawara insisted, turning back to everyone else. “Anyways, we went to thank Kageyama’s friend for helping him and Hinata out on their finals since, as we can all imagine, that must’ve been a lot of work. At the end of lunch, Kageyama finally admitted that he had a crush on her and that he’d be jealous if he saw her confess on Valentine’s Day to someone else! That brings us to our current objective. It’s our job as the Karasuno Volleyball team to support our members in all aspects of their lives, including romance! We need to help our dear underclassman figure out a way to confess before someone else does.”  


“Kageyama freely admitted that to you guys?” Asahi asked skeptically. “I mean, no offense Kageyama, but that sounds really out of character. Suga, did you torture the guy or something? Or even worse, did you make Daichi mad somehow and set him on Kageyama?”  


“You think I tortured him? Asahi! What kind of person do you take me for?” Sugawara exclaimed.  


“I don’t know, Suga-san. You’ve always been pretty invested in other people’s love lives,” Ennoshita said.  


“He probably just threatened to kick Kageyama off the team if he wasn’t honest,” Tanaka said, still laughing. “Just like Daichi at the beginning of the year!”  


“Hey, that was for a completely different reason! It was necessary to help our team work together!” Daichi said defensively.  


“So is this! How can we expect Kageyama to be playing at his best if he’s dealing with romantic issues?” Sugawara replied.  


“Actually, I think Kageyama just gets jealous easily,” Hinata chimed in. “He went up to her after Suga-san talked to him and asked her if she liked Tsukishima all of a sudden! And his face was really red too!”  


“Shut up, Hinata!”  


Tsukishima choked on the water he was drinking as Yamaguchi thumped his back in concern. “What? Why would you ask her if she likes me? I don’t think I’ve ever talked to her.”  


“Don’t worry about it, Tsukishima,” Daichi said quickly. “Kageyama, that was just a hypothetical Suga came up with to make you be more honest about your feelings. Like Tsukishima said, there’s probably nothing going on between them.”  


“She said the same thing as Tsukishima,” Hinata added.  


“Kageyama, you were actually jealous of this stick?” Tanaka asked incredulously, earning a glare from Tsukishima.  


“N-No.” Kageyama didn’t even sound convincing to himself.  


“Guys, we’re getting off topic,” Sugawara said. “Ignoring the whole thing about Tsukishima, the point is that Kageyama was finally able to be honest about his feelings towards her to us! We need to figure out a way to help Kageyama confess!”  


“Huh? Why can’t he just say it?” Nishinoya asked. “Just go up to her and say, “I like you!””  


“Yeah,” Tanaka said. “Kageyama, just do that! Girls like it when you’re straightforward like that.”  


Kageyama took a slow breath. He couldn’t believe he was sitting in the club room getting love advice from his volleyball teammates. He would’ve left as soon as Sugawara had told them all to stay while winking at him, but the thought of you confessing to someone else kept him there. The scenario that Daichi and Sugawara had come up with during lunch replayed in his head. Even if you weren’t interested in Tsukishima, the idea of you being with anyone besides him was enough to make him swallow his pride and embarrassment and accept the help of his teammates. Though, the determine look in Sugawara’s eyes made him think that he hadn't really had a choice about staying for the meeting.  


“I think we should keep Kageyama’s personality in mind,” Daichi said. “He should confess in a way that’s true to who he is. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Kageyama, you really don’t seem like the type that can just go up to a girl and confess to her.”  


Kageyama nodded in agreement. The idea of doing that was even more terrifying than the idea of having to take on Oikawa in a match 6-on-1. Remembering the way he felt strangely out of breath and hot when he apologized to you, he was sure that confessing would feel even more anxious.  


“Okay, what about a more subtle approach?” Ennoshita suggested. “Ask her to hang out afterschool or something as just friends, and then eventually you can start doing things that are more date-like.”  


That sounded like a much easier approach. After all, the two of you studied together on the weekends. But was that what Ennoshita meant by “hanging out?” It definitely wasn’t date-like. Besides, Kageyama thought, you were spending time with him on the weekends to help him out, like any good friend with you. If he asked you to do something completely unacademic with him and just “hang out,” would you even say yes? The two of you had spent a lot of time together outside of studying when you were younger, but things felt different now that you were in high school and he had developed feelings for you. Kageyama sighed, feeling his heart rate pick up at just the idea of asking you to spend time with him without studying as an excuse. How was he going to be able to do this if he was too afraid to ask you to even hang out as friends?  


“Isn’t that kind of cowardly?” Nishinoya protested against Ennoshita’s suggestion. “If you like her, you should man up and ask her on a date instead of going on pretend “dates” as friends.”  


“Well, isn’t the issue that Kageyama is too shy to actually ask her out?” Asahi said. “I know I would be terrified of doing something like that.”  


Kageyama nodded, grateful at Asahi for understanding how he felt. In a team full of boisterous, straightforward, and confident guys like Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Hinata, it was nice to have someone who empathized with his fears.  


“Coward,” Nishinoya muttered, rolling his eyes. “What’s there to be afraid of?”  


“She could say no,” Kageyama muttered, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.  


“Hah!” Hinata laughed. “You’re not scared of challenging Shiratorizawa at the Spring Tournament but you’re scare of a girl rejecting you?”  


“Shut up! You don’t know how it feels!”  


“

If that’s the issue, why don’t you just ask her who she likes? If she says you, then there’s nothing to be nervous about. If she says someone else, then you know not to ask her out,” Tsukishima said.  


Everyone fell silent for a moment, starting at him. Nishinoya was the one who broke the pause.  


“Tsukishima, you do say some good stuff every once in a while! Look at you, helping out your teammate!”  


“You might be jerk most of the time, but you come through when it counts!” Tanaka added.  


“Tch. I just want to get this meeting over with so I can go home,” Tsukishima said. “Does that solve your problem, King?”  


Kageyama clenched his fists but nodded. As much as he disliked Tsukishima, his plan made sense. It seemed much less scary than asking you outright, or asking you if you wanted to spend time with him, though thinking about asking you that still made him sweat.  


“I agree!” Sugawara said. “But I think it might be a little too obvious for Kageyama to ask her that out of the blue. She might catch on as to why he’s asking, which would be bad if she somehow doesn’t like him back.”  


Daichi nodded. “As much as I appreciate your straightforward confidence, Nishinoya and Tanaka, I think we have to keep in mind that we’re not sure that she likes Kageyama back. Not that I think she’ll reject you, Kageyama,” he added, seeing his expression. “I agree with Suga that anyone would be lucky to date you.”  


“I can ask her who she likes!” Hinata volunteered.  


“No! Hinata, don’t say anything about me to her.” The memory of Hinata trying to be his wingman made Kageyama shudder. He would do anything to avoid being humiliated like that in front of you again. “Please.”  


“What if we find a way for Kageyama to bring it up to her naturally?” Ennoshita said. “Like leaving anonymous notes in her locker saying that you like her for a few days. You guys hang out, right? Then you can be there when she finds one and can ask her about who she thinks is sending them and who she wishes they were from. Then you’ll know who she likes without being too obvious.”  


“That’s a great idea!” Sugawara exclaimed. “And don’t worry, Kageyama. We’ll help you write out the notes too!”  


“Does this mean this meeting is over?” Tsukishima asked, standing up to leave. “As riveting as the King’s love life is, I do have things to do.”  


Sugawara nodded. “Thanks for you help, everyone! Kageyama, let’s get started on writing those notes!”  


* * *  


Kageyama walked home alone on the otherwise empty street. The wind pushed against his hair as his grip tightened on the small envelope in his hand. Sugawara and Daichi had stayed after everyone else left, Sugawara insisting that he needed to make sure Kageyama wouldn’t write anything that could come off as rude and Daichi saying that he needed to make sure Sugawara didn’t kill him with his enthusiasm. Hinata had wanted to stay too, but Kageyama had shoved him out the door. The last thing he needed was Hinata’s input on this. Besides, knowing Hinata, he’d probably write some stupid volleyball metaphor that you wouldn’t understand.  


Kageyama had grimaced as Sugawara had proposed a number of flowery lines for him to write, confessing his feelings for you. They were probably romantic for some people, but Kageyama couldn’t imagine ever saying that to you. But what if you liked that kind of stuff? Daichi had sensed his hesitation and interrupted Sugawara.  


“I think it fits Kageyama more to go for something a little more straightforward.”  


That was how they had decided on the note that was written on the paper inside the envelope that he held in his hand. Three words: _I like you._ It was simple and straight to the point, just like Kageyama, Daichi had pointed out. After begging Sugawara to write the words because you would definitely recognize his handwriting, Kageyama had stared at the piece of paper before carefully placing it inside the envelope. His heartbeat had drummed in his ears, similar to the feeling he got when they were at match point against Seijou at the last tournament. Asahi had suggested that he leave you three notes, one per day, because three was a lucky number. Sugawara and Daichi had agreed, saying that it sounded like a reasonable timeframe for Kageyama to work up the courage to ask you who you liked.  


He wasn’t sure if he was more nervous, afraid, or relieved at the thought that in three days, he might be able to stop the distracted thoughts of you that plagued him in class. Though, that was only if he worked up the courage to talk to you. Since when had he been such a coward? It was just a conversation, right? His hand gripped the envelope tightly. It didn’t matter. Now that the team, and especially Sugawara, had come up with a plan, they wouldn’t let him off the hook even if he tried to back out. Like it or not, in three days, he would have his answer.


	11. An Anonymous Note

You walked to school alone, lost in your thoughts. Kageyama had texted you the previous night, saying that he couldn't walk with you because he had an even earlier practice session that morning. _It’s way too early for sports,_ you thought, looking up at the dark sky. The third-years that had come to visit you from his team had seemed like nice people, and you couldn’t believe that they’d make their teammates come to school at such an early time. How could anyone have the energy to run around the gym at such an early hour?  


For once, though, you didn’t mind Kageyama’s absence. Walking to school alone gave you time to clear your head as your video call with Kindaichi and Kunimi from last night replayed itself in your mind. With their increasingly busy practice schedule for the Spring Tournament, the three of you had moved most of your meetings to virtual ones when the two weren’t at practice.  


“And then he started asking me if I liked this guy from his volleyball team who’s in my class!” you had said, explaining the day’s events that had started with Kageyama’s upperclassmen visiting you at lunch. “But it was this quiet guy that I’ve never talked to before! You know, the tall blonde one on his team?”  


“The one that looks bored all the time with the glasses?” Kindaichi said. When you nodded, he made a face. “I didn’t think he was your type.”  


“He’s not! I have no idea why Tobio said that!” you said.  


“You know, you’ve sure been talking about Kageyama a lot recently,” Kunimi had observed.  


“Huh? No I don’t!”  


“Kunimi is right,” Kindaichi said. “I feel like I know what he’s been up to every day this past week thanks to you, and I haven’t seen the guy since the last tournament.”  


“Well, I guess I’m just happy we’re friends again,” you said with a shrug.  


“You’re turning red,” Kunimi said.  


“No I’m not!” Despite your words, you could feel your cheeks getting hot.  


“Ah, I get it!” Kindaichi exclaimed. “You don’t like the glasses guy because you have a crush on the King!”  


“What? I don’t! We’re just friends!”  


“You know,” Kunimi said. “You always told Kindaichi and I to be honest about our feelings. Kindaichi even told us about that girl that he liked and then tripped and fell in front of.”  


“Hey, you said you wouldn’t ever bring that up!” Kindaichi said. “But Kunimi is right. The three of us have an agreement to be completely honest when it comes to who we like, and I know you too well to fall for that whole “we’re just friends” thing. Spill it.”  


You sighed. Despite his usually disinterested expression, Kunimi was actually great at reading people. Besides, Kindaichi had a point. The three of you had known each other for too long for them to fall for an obvious lie.  


“I like him,” you said defeatedly as Kindaichi’s expression turned triumphant. “I can’t help it! I spend so much time with him and he’s so passionate about volleyball. Plus he gets flustered and embarrassed so easily! It’s so cute.”  


“I didn’t think I’d ever hear anyone describe the King as _cute_ ,” Kindaichi muttered.  


“I can’t say I see the appeal,” Kunimi said. “But I guess I’m not too surprised. He was pretty popular with the girls in middle school, right? Something about being tall, athletic and cool.”  


“How did anyone think he’s cool! He’s the biggest volleyball idiot ever! He was only popular with girls who hadn’t experienced his lousy personality. Uh, sorry. No offense to you,” Kindaichi added. “But given how long you’ve known him, I guess you can tolerate it somehow.”  


“Like you said, he’s changed since middle school,” you said. “I know he can be a little blunt and rude sometimes-“  


“A little?”  


“- but it’s only because he cares so much about volleyball and his team,” you said. “I don’t think it’s ever mean-spirited. I know it probably didn’t come off that way, but I think he was genuinely just trying to help the team when he would yell at people. And I like that he cares so much about his sport. He gets this excited look in his eyes.”  


“You’re the only person who can put a positive spin on every aspect of that guy’s personality,” Kunimi said. “But you like who you like, I guess, so no judgement here.”  


“So, when are you going to tell him?” Kindaichi asked.  


“I can’t do that!” you said. “He probably doesn’t like me back and I don’t want things to become awkward between us. It hasn’t been that long since we made up and I don’t want to ruin everything.”  


“You never know,” Kindaichi said. “Maybe he secretly has feelings and emotions like the rest of us.”  


“I hate to say it,” Kunimi said. “But I agree that you shouldn’t tell him how you feel.”  


“Huh?” Kindaichi asked. “Why not? What if he likes her back?”  


“Think about it. This is Kageyama we’re talking about,” Kunimi said. “He lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes volleyball. I don’t mean to shoot you down or anything but I find it hard to believe that there’s any space in his brain for anything else. Like Kindaichi said, he’s the biggest volleyball idiot to ever exist. To be completely honest, I can’t really see him being in a relationship with anyone.”  


“That’s harsh,” Kindaichi said. “You never know. He could just be acting like that because he’s so awkward and bad with people. I mean, can you imagine him asking anyone out? Maybe he actually thinks about things other than volleyball but just doesn’t know how to express it. Besides, if he were to date anyone, I think it would be you. It’s not like he talks to any other girls, right?”  


You shook your head. “I think Kunimi is right.” While you had no plans on confessing to him, openly admitting that Kageyama probably didn’t return your feelings still stung.  


“Honestly, I can’t see him dating anyone either,” you said. “He’s too focused on volleyball. He only sees me as a friend, anyways, and I’m not going to ruin our friendship over this. But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll get over him eventually.”  


Now, the next morning, you still stood by what you had said. Kunimi was right. You couldn’t imagine Kageyama loving someone the way that he loved his sport. It wasn’t like there weren’t any other attractive guys at Karasuno either. You would just find someone else to transfer your crush to and your friendship with Kageyama would remain completely platonic, just the way it had already been.  


“Good morning!” You had arrived at school to see Yamaguchi from your class waving to you with Tsukishima behind him. While you weren’t particularly close with Yamaguchi, he was always polite to you and you always greeted each other outside of class.  


“Good morning, Yamaguchi,” you said, confused by his nonchalant tone. “Uh, isn’t there volleyball practice right now?”  


“No, we start in fifteen minutes like always,” Yamaguchi said. “I can’t imagine having practice any earlier than that. I can’t wake up that early!”  


You watched the two of them head off to the gym while you climbed the stairs to your classroom. You made a mental note to ask Kageyama about why he had claimed there was an earlier practice that morning. Maybe he had just mixed up the dates and the early practice was supposed to be some other day?  


Opening your locker, you reached down to grab your books. Your hand froze when you looked spotted a white envelope on top of your math textbook that definitely hadn’t been there when you had left yesterday. Had someone slipped it into your locker sometimes since then? When would they have done that, given that you usually left school quite late and arrived earlier than most students? Cautiously, you opened the envelope and pulled out a small slip of paper.  


_I like you._  


You stared at the card for a moment before turning it over. There was no signature anywhere. Was it a prank? Or a genuine confession from a secret admirer? You blushed at the second thought. Your mind immediately went to Kageyama, hoping it had been from him, though you knew that wasn’t possible. The handwriting on the card was too neat for it to be his. _Besides,_ you told yourself, _he doesn’t like you like that._  


You returned the card to the envelope and slipped it into a pocket of your bag. It could just as well be a prank or a card slipped into a random locker as a dare. You contemplating leaving a note of your own for a moment before deciding against it. The card was likely slipped through the top of your locker so that the person responsible wouldn’t see any response you left inside of it. You could leave something taped to the outside, but the potential embarrassment from someone else reading it and finding out that you had gotten such a note was too much. Sighing, you resigned yourself to simply hoping that you’d get another note tomorrow.  


_And,_ you found yourself adding, despite knowing it was impossible, _that Tobio was the one who had left it._


	12. Unanswered Questions

“Where were you this morning?” you asked. Kageyama flinched at your question as you slid into the seat next to him for lunch. “I ran into Yamaguchi and Tsukishima when I got to school this morning and they said your practice started at the same time as usual.”  


“I was working on some extra stuff with the third-years,” Kageyama fibbed. It wasn’t a complete lie. He’d gotten to school extra early to slip his note into your locker before meeting Sugawara and Daichi in the club room before practice. Sugawara had insisted the night before that he would help him write the next note, refusing to take no for an answer.  


“I can’t have my underclassman getting cold feet and backing out,” he had said. “Besides, you need me to help disguise your handwriting, right?”  


At Sugawara’s insistence, as he said that having two opinions on Kageyama’s note would be better than one, Daichi also agreed to come. They’d gone through a seemingly endless number of potential messages, from poems that Sugawara wrote that Daichi deemed overkill and would scare you away, to Kageyama comparing talking to you to the feeling he got when getting a service ace which Sugawara said just made him sound like a volleyball idiot. Practice had almost started when they had finally decided upon a message. Sugawara had quickly scribbled it onto a paper that he stuffed in an envelope before Daichi herded them off to the gym.  


“Wow, extra practice on top of what you guys normally do? You must be working really hard to prepare for the Spring Tournament,” you said.  


“Yeah, there’s some new techniques I’m trying to get down before then. I’m going to be doing early practice with them for the next two mornings too,” he said. “Sorry that I won’t be able to walk with you to school.”  


“Don’t worry about it,” you said, shaking your head. “Where’s Hinata today?”  


“He went to ask the teacher some stuff about the lesson. That idiot fell asleep again,” Kageyama said.  


You sighed. “And here I was thinking that he was getting better at staying awake after all that last-minute studying he had to do for exams.”  


“That probably won’t happen unless we have another training camp that we need to pass our classes for,” Kageyama said.  


You nodded, reaching into your bag. “Hey, Tobio, look what I found in my locker today.”  


Kageyama struggled to keep his breathing steady as you held out a small envelope, the same one that he’d slipped into your locker that morning. _Pretend to be surprised,_ he thought, doing his best to widen his eyes and look confused. He wondered if it was working, given that Hinata was always telling him that he attempts at showing emotions, like when he tried to smile, often didn’t come across the way he intended.  


“Uh, what is it?”  


“There’s a note inside,” you said. You pulled it out of the envelope, showing the note to him. His heart skipped a beat and he felt blood rush to his face when he saw "I like you" written in Sugawara’s neat handwriting.  


“Uh.” What was he supposed to say to you? “Who sent it?”  


“I don’t know. It doesn’t have a signature or name.”  


“So a secret admirer?”  


“I’m not sure,” you admitted. “I mean, it could be a prank or a dare, you know?”  


Kageyama felt himself stiffen in surprise. Daichi and Sugawara had gone over a multitude of possibilities with him about how you’d react and what he should do in each situation. If you guessed it was him, he was supposed to deny it until the day he confessed, saying that his handwriting wasn’t that neat. If you seemed creeped out by an anonymous letter, he was supposed to try and reassure you that it was likely someone you knew. Despite all their planning, they never addressed the possibility that you would disregard the whole thing as a joke. What was he supposed to do? Insist that it wasn’t? _No, that was too obvious-_  


“But I hope it’s not,” you said, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Telling some you like them through secret notes is kind of cute.”  


Kageyama saw the slight blush that spread over your cheeks and bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling. He felt a strange feeling of lightness at the knowledge that it was _his_ note that had put that adorable expression on your face.  


"If she has a positive reaction to the note, ask her who she wishes it were from," Sugawara had said. "Like Tsukishima said, it’ll be a lot easier for you to confess if she says you, and if she likes someone else, then it’s better to know sooner."  


While it sounded like a solid plan in theory, his fingers curled into fists at the idea of you telling him that you liked someone else. But, as much as that idea upset him, he also figured that he would rather know that you liked someone else now than be rejected after confessing later.  


“So, uh, is there anyone you wish it were from?” Kageyama asked. You looked at him quizzically. “I mean, uh, do you like anyone?”  


He directed his gaze downward, waiting for your response. If you told him that you liked someone else, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep a stoic expression. The last thing he needed was for you to figure out how he felt after you indirectly rejected him.  


“I can’t tell you who I like!” you exclaimed. “You’ll make fun of me!”  


“Huh?” Kageyama immediately looked up, feeling his breath catch in his throat. “So there _is_ someone?”  


You hesitated before nodding slowly. “They probably don’t like me back, so I doubt that it’s from them. It’s fine, though. I’ll get over them eventually.”  


Kageyama bit the inside of his lip. Apparently his crush was obvious enough for the entire Karasuno volleyball team to figure it out. If whoever you liked gave you the impression that they didn’t reciprocate your feelings, it probably wasn’t him. Still, a part of him couldn’t let go of the hope that maybe you were refusing to tell him because _he_ was the one you liked. It was a hope that he knew he wouldn’t be able to squash unless you either directly rejected him or told him outright that you liked someone else.  


“Why can’t you just tell me who it is?”  


“You’ll laugh at me or tell me that it’s dumb to like them,” you mumbled. “And why do you just want to know about who I like? What about you? Has anyone managed to catch the eye of the great volleyball nerd?”  


Kageyama immediately turned the color of a tomato. “I’m not telling you that!”  


“Ah! So there _is_ someone! You’re so easy to read,” you said triumphantly. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you tell me who. But if you won’t say, I won’t either.”  


Kageyama nodded sullenly as the two of you resumed eating. So much for Sugawara’s plan of using the notes to find out who you liked, he thought. Clearly, they needed to come up with a new plan. Still, the look on your face when you showed him the note wouldn’t leave his mind. His note had made you happy.  


His fingers tightened around his chopsticks. If you liked his note so much, then maybe, just maybe, you could like the person who had left it in your locker too.  


***  


You rubbed your eyes as you arrived at school the next morning. You hadn’t been able to sleep much the night before, with your thoughts churning at the thought of the note you’d received and the conversation you had with Kageyama at lunch. _So he likes someone,_ you thought. As much as you tried to stop it, there was a part of your heart that raced at the possibility, as slim as it may be, that the person he liked was you.  


Biting your lip, you shook your head. It was much more likely that he liked someone else. The two of you were just friends, after all, and he hadn’t done or said anything that indicated that he was interested in your romantically. He was probably into someone who was as athletic as he was, like a member of the girls’ volleyball team. What would he see in someone who spent all their time at cram school and student council meetings, compared to a girl who played the same sport that he loved? Lost in thought, you didn’t notice the small envelope that had been placed in your locker until you picked up your books and saw it flutter to the floor.  


Your heartbeat raced as you knelt to pick it up. It was identical to the one you’d gotten the previous day. Setting your books aside, you quickly opened it and pulled out the note.  


_I wish I were brave enough to tell you how I feel. I just get so nervous every time I even think about trying, knowing that you probably don’t like me back._  


You smiled, slipping the note into your bag. The note sounded a lot like how you felt whenever you were around Kageyama. You felt bad for the writer, knowing that their prediction was probably right. You still had feelings for Kageyama that you seemed to be unable to get rid of. As much as you wanted the note to be from him, you knew that the handwriting definitely wasn’t his. Whoever it was that had been leaving you these notes clearly didn’t know that you had your eyes on someone else. You hoped that if they ever confronted you about their feelings, that they wouldn’t be too hurt that you liked Kageyama and not them. Picking up your books, you sighed.  


_Why can’t the people we like also like us back?_


	13. Encouragement

“And she said she wouldn’t tell me who she liked, which means this whole plan is a failure,” Kageyama said. “This was all a mistake.”  


“Hey, that’s not true,” Daichi said. “Maybe she didn’t tell you because you’re the one she likes.”  


“Or she just likes someone else,” Kageyama muttered, laying his forehead on the table.  


It was already dark outside but the volleyball team was gathered inside the club room, surrounding Kageyama. He had cornered Sugawara as soon as practice had ended to tell him about the failed plan, but Daichi had dragged them to the club room so that the gym could be locked up. Kageyama had ranted to the two about his conversation with you during lunch, and overhearing this, Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka had gathered around them. Before he knew it, Kageyama found all of his teammates listening in on his conversation, with Ennoshita and Asahi looking a bit guilty. Even Tsukishima, though he still looked bored, had decided to stay and listen.  


“Well, you’ve already given her two of the notes,” Sugawara reasoned. “I think you should just go through with it as planned. Just put the last note in her locker tomorrow and then confess later that day!”  


“And get rejected because she likes someone else? This entire thing was stupid,” Kageyama muttered. “If I don’t say anything, she’ll forget about the notes eventually.”  


“Come on, you’re chickening out?” Tanaka said. “Be a man, Kageyama! See this plan through to the end!”  


“Yeah, what kind of coward just leaves a girl hanging like that?” Nishinoya added. “You don’t know for sure that she doesn’t like you unless you ask her out!”  


Kageyama glared at them. _Why were they eavesdropping?_ “I don’t want to say something and ruin our friendship if she probably doesn’t feel the same way.”  


“Lame!” Tanaka said. “If this girl is going to stop being friends with you just because you were honest with her, she’s not worth your time to begin with!”  


“I hate to say it,” Tsukishima said, causing everyone to turn to look at him. “But I agree with the King. Aren’t the two of you just desensitized to rejection because Kiyoko-san rejects you every single day?”  


“Tsukishima, you little prick-“  


“What did you just say?”  


Ennoshita and Daichi grabbed Nishinoya and Tanaka, who looked like they were going to tackle Tsukishima together, and forcefully pushed them out the door.  


“It’s time for you two to go home,” Daichi said, ignoring the protests coming from Nishinoya and Tanaka.  


“Why are we getting kicked out when Tsukishima started it?”  


“Yeah! Tell him to show some respect!”  


“I mean, he wasn’t wrong…” Ennoshita mumbled.  


“Chikara! You’re supposed to be on our side!” Nishinoya said as Daichi finally told the two to leave and closed the club room door.  


“Don’t worry about them,” Sugawara said. “I’m sure they meant well and were giving you advice that they would follow if they were in your situation.”  


“I think Nishinoya had a point, though,” Asahi chimed in. “I mean, I’m sure this girl wants to know who’s giving her the notes and is hoping that it’s from whoever she likes. It’s pretty harsh to just leave her hanging like that.”  


“That’s a good point,” Yamaguchi said. “Besides, even if she doesn’t feel the same way, I’m sure she’ll be nice about it. She doesn’t seem like the type of person that would cut you off or anything just because you confess.”  


Kageyama remained silent. Even if your friendship wasn’t impacted by his confession, the rejection would still hurt. Why would he put himself through that if was likely that you didn’t reciprocate his feelings?  


“Huh, who would’ve thought that the King would be such a coward?” Tsukishima said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told off Tanaka and Nishinoya. You act so tough on the court and in practice, but I guess it’s all just an act if you’re scared of _this._ ”  


“Shut up. You don’t understand how it feels.”  


“I mean, you’re always telling Hinata that he has to trust your tosses and that “with you he’s invincible,” or something like that,” Tsukishima continued, as if he hadn’t heard Kageyama at all. “I honestly don’t know how he puts up with it. I wouldn’t be able to put that much faith in someone who’s such a coward.”  


“Tsukishima, that’s enough,” Daichi said, seeing Kageyama’s expression and trying to diffuse the situation.  


“What would you know?” Kageyama said, turning to Tsukishima. “I don’t see you confessing to anyone.”  


Tsukishima shrugged. “I don’t have anyone to confess to. But if I did, I definitely wouldn’t beg my volleyball team for help only to end up running away.”  


“I didn’t beg!”  


Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “I don’t really know what you expected Suga-san to say to you. Did you want him to agree that there was no point in actually confessing and then join in on your pity party? How pathetic.”  


Kageyama clenched his fists, telling himself that he couldn’t just punch his teammate, as tempting as the thought was. _It’s for volleyball,_ he told himself. It would hurt Karasuno to have an injured middle blocker, so he had to control his anger.  


“Tsukishima, that’s a little harsh,” Sugawara said, seeming to sense that Kageyama was barely holding himself back.  


“As of right now, everything I said is true.” Tsukishima picked up his bag, standing up. “I’d be glad to take it back if I see a confession happen at lunch tomorrow. Not that I think it’ll happen.”  


He walked out of the club room as Yamaguchi followed him, though he cast a worried glance behind him.  


“Fine!” Kageyama snapped, causing even Tsukishima to stop and turn around. “I’ll do it tomorrow. It’s just a stupid confession.”  


Tsukishima smirked. “Whatever you say.”  


When Tsukishima and Yamaguchi left, the others huddled closer around Kageyama.  


“Are you actually gonna do it?” Hinata asked, eyes wide with excitement.  


“Who would’ve guessed that it would be _Tsukishima_ who convinced Kageyama to confess?” Asahi said.  


Daichi sighed. “I guess his bluntness does end up doing some good once in a while.”  


“Do you have your last note prepared? Have you thought about how you’re going to confess?” Sugawara asked.  


Kageyama shook his head, the momentary surge of courage that he had felt snapping at Tsukishima now gone. “I have no idea what I’m going to say.”  


“Well, that’s what you have your upperclassmen for!” Sugawara said.  


“You might feel more comfortable if you use your note to ask her to meet you privately during lunch,” Ennoshita said.  


“I think…Girls usually like flowers, don’t they?” Asahi said. “You could bring her one and give it to her when you confess.”  


“Come on, Kageyama,” Sugawara said, slapping him on the back. “We’re going to help you come up with a confession so good that she’s not going to be able to say no!”  


***  


Kageyama couldn’t control the blush on his cheeks as he stood in front of the cash register. Though it was still early, the morning had already been eventful. He’d rushed to school to leave the last note in your locker before dashing to the nearby florist. While he had protested Asahi’s suggestion to get you flowers at first, everyone had insisted that “girls love that sort of thing.” He wasn’t sure why he was taking romantic advice from a group of guys who were all single, but here he was, buying a rose for you.  


“Have a good day,” the cashier said to him after he paid, and he awkwardly nodded before heading out of the shop. He hoped that it would be a good day for him, too. The sun was already up, and he knew students would be starting to arrive at school. Daichi had given him permission to come to volleyball practice late so he could get you a flower before school started, but the real struggle would be getting the rose into his locker without anyone seeing it. If anyone saw him carrying a flower and word got back to Tsukishima, he would never hear the end of it.  


Luckily, the streets were empty as he walked back to school. Busy scanning the hallways in front of him as he made his way towards his locker, he didn’t notice footsteps approaching him from behind.  


“Tobio!”  


Kageyama thought that his heart was going to leap out of his throat when he heard your voice. His hand instinctively stuffed the rose into his jacket, holding one arm against his body to keep it in place. Thankfully, the thorns had been removed. Hoping you hadn’t noticed the flower or the growing blush on his face, he turned around.  


“I, uh, I was going to practice early but I overslept!” he stammered. “I have to go. I’m late!”  


With that, he sprinted down the hallway, arm still clutching the rose against his side. It was only when he arrived before his locker, looking both ways to make sure he was alone, that he allowed himself a sigh of relief. Opening his locker, he pulled the rose out of his jacket and groaned. A few of the petals had been bent and crushed from being pressed against his body. He fumbled with the petals for a moment, trying to fix them with no avail, before sighing in defeat and putting it in his locker. Grabbing his gym bag, he took a deep breath, trying to expel any thoughts of you, the rose, and the confession he was planning from his mind. His team needed him to be focused during practice so he and Hinata could improve their quick enough to use it at the Spring Tournament. While what he planned to do later that day terrified him, right now, he needed to only think about volleyball.  


Worrying about his confession would have to wait 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter will be coming out on Sunday (EST)! Will Kageyama manage to go through with the plan, or will he be too scared to follow through?


	14. Confession

Kageyama couldn’t focus.  


The entire morning, he had continued to miss his serves and failed to move fast enough for receives. Even Tsukishima’s taunting couldn’t snap him out of it. Daichi and the other upperclassmen chose not to comment on his poor performance, likely because they knew about what was weighing on his mind. For once, Kageyama was relieved when practice ended.  


Class wasn’t much better. Despite his best attempts to pay attention, telling himself that he wouldn’t let Hinata score better on the next test than him, he found his mind drifting off. He kept thinking about the words that were on the last note he gave you, written in Sugawara’s handwriting. It was a message that everyone who had stayed back at the clubroom had agreed on as being a good way to let him confess.  


_I like you a lot and I hope that you like me too. Can you come to the back of the gym at lunch? I want to tell you who I am._  


The clock seemed to tick at an agonizingly slow pace. When he saw Hinata trying to catch his eye a few times and shoot him a thumbs up, Kageyama looked away, ignoring him. He knew that Hinata meant well, but he couldn’t handle any reminders about what he was planning to do at lunch. He was having enough trouble keeping his hands from shaking as it was.  


He thought back to the previous evening in the club room, taking in a slow breath. Regardless of what you said, he told himself, it would be good for him to finally know how you felt about him. At the very least, the upperclassmen had told him that it would give him closure to his feelings.  


“No matter what happens tomorrow, Kageyama,” Daichi had said. “I’m proud of you for having the courage to tell her how you feel.”  


“Yeah,” Asahi said. “That takes more guts than playing against any team in a volleyball match.”  


“And just remember,” Sugawara said. “Anyone would be lucky to have you confess to them! If she says no, it’s her loss. She just doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”  


He was even grateful to Tsukishima, who, intentionally or not, had gotten him riled up enough to act on his feelings. Despite what he had said yesterday, Kageyama knew that this was something he had to do whether he wanted to or not. No matter what your answer would be, he needed to know how you felt to put an end to his one-sided pining. Not being able to get you out of his mind was distracting to no end and was even starting to affect his volleyball playing.  


When the bell rang for lunch, Kageyama took his time putting away his books. Now that it was finally time to do it, he wished that time would slow down again. He wondered if he had somehow suddenly gotten a fever. His face felt hot, his hands were clammy, and his heartbeat seemed to be pounding in his ears.  


“Good luck Kageyama!” Hinata said, coming up to his desk. “You can do it!”  


Kageyama simply nodded before standing and heading out the door. He walked to his locker and stared at the rose inside, still a little beat up from him having stuffed it into his jacket earlier. Already, things weren’t going exactly as planned. He took a breath. Somehow, though, the beat-up rose seemed to make him feel a bit more at ease. The confession wouldn’t be perfect, but he wasn’t perfect either. He knew that though he’d changed since his time in middle school, he still had a tendency to blow up and lash out at others, especially when it came to volleyball. He was awkward, bad at talking about his feelings, and struggled with school. He knew that you could do a lot better than him. But if you were willing to take a beat-up rose, maybe you could also like him back despite all his imperfections.  


“Oh, so you’re really going through with it?” Kageyama turned to see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi passing by behind him. Knowing that it was too late to hide it, Kageyama nodded, taking the rose in his hand.  


“Good luck, Kageyama!” Yamaguchi exclaimed, as Tsukishima simply raised an eyebrow.  


“I’m impressed, King,” Tsukishima said. “Maybe you’re not completely a coward after all.”  


Kageyama certainly didn’t feel like he was brave. He finally understood why Hinata always complained about stomach pains when he got nervous. He took his time walking towards the gym, tightening his grip on the rose to keep his fingers from trembling. When the gym came into sight, he stopped, trying to get his muscles to release some of the tension.  


_Here goes nothing._  


You were waiting for him behind the gym, just as he had asked. He saw the envelope containing the day’s note in your hands, and Kageyama felt heat rush to his ears when your gaze met his. It was like time had stopped, as everything around him seemed to fade, and all he could see was you. He wondered if he had temporarily stopped breathing as he saw your mouth open in surprise as your eyes traveled downward to the rose in his hand.  


“Tobio?” Your voice was soft. He didn’t know what that meant. Were you happy? Disappointed? “You left me the notes?”  


He hesitantly nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Instead, he raised the rose and held it out to you, though he was unable to stop his arm from shaking.  


“I-“ He gritted his teeth, willing himself to speak with a steady voice. He looked down at the ground. He wouldn’t be able to say any of this while looking at your face. “I know it’s probably stupid. I know you can do a lot better than me. You’re smart, nice, responsible, and I’m…not. I was a jerk to you and the others in middle school. I didn’t deserve you to forgive me and I’m always depending on you to help me with school. I’m not good at talking or making friends or anything except volleyball. But I like you.”  


His mouth felt dry as the last three words left his mouth. _I like you._ He never would’ve thought that he’d be saying those words to anyone. They felt heavy, as if weighing down the air around him, making it even harder to breathe.  


“I like you a lot,” Kageyama repeated, swallowing, his grip on the rose tightening even more. “So…do you think you could like me back?”  


The silence that followed was deafening. Every second that passed felt like an eternity and he felt his courage beginning to waver. His hand holding the rose out to you began to dip as he bit the inside of his cheek. He thought he knew what it meant to be hurt when his team in middle school had turned their backs on him, or when Karasuno had lost to Aoba Johsai because Oikawa had read him like an open book. Those experiences had felt like he’d been punched in the chest and had been some of the only times he’d cried in his life. Kageyama had thought he’d experienced as much disappointment and pain as a person could when he had been benched during his last match in middle school, so why did your silence hurt so much more?  


“Tobio.” He looked up as he felt your fingers wrapping around his hand holding the flower. He stared at you, blinking to make sure that he wasn’t hallucinating. _You were smiling._ That was a good sign, right? You wouldn’t smile if you were going to reject him.  


“I like you too. I like you a lot.”  


He blinked once, and then twice. Had he misheard you? Maybe his ears were playing tricks on him. Maybe this was all just an incredibly vivid dream and he’d wake up soon, knowing that he’d have to actually do it in person later that day-  


“Yes! Finally! I knew it!”  


Kageyama was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a male voice. Your fingers instinctively tightened around his as you both looked around for the source of the sound.  


“Shut up, Nishinoya!” a voice said. “We’re not supposed to be here!”  


“Both of you, be quiet!” another voice hissed. “They heard you already!”  


Kageyama felt his entire face flush as he recognized the voices. He wished the ground would swallow him up and that he could disappear. Despite his beet-red face, he glared at the rustling bushes next to the two of you, where the voices had come from.  


Perhaps sensing his murderous expression, nine figures appeared from behind the bush. Tanaka and Nishinoya looked ecstatic while Daichi, Asahi, and Ennoshita looked sheepishly guilty. Hinata and Yamaguchi were looking at him with shocked expressions whereas Tsukishima looked disinterested, though Kageyama swore there was a hint of pink on his cheeks. Sugawara, on the other hand, had the biggest grin that Kageyama had ever seen on his face.  


“Sorry, Kageyama,” Asahi said. “The team was just worried that you wouldn’t go through with it.”  


“That’s what you get for freaking out yesterday and kicking us out!” Tanaka exclaimed. “Aren’t you glad that you listened to your upperclassmen now?”  


“Everyone, that’s enough. Come on, let’s give these two some privacy,” Daichi said, herding the others away from them. “Sorry about that, Kageyama. But I’m glad it worked out.”  


He watched Daichi push a shocked Hinata and Yamaguchi away, with Sugawara and Asahi having to essentially drag a cheering Tanaka and Nishinoya out of view. Tsukishima and Ennoshita trailed behind the group. His cheeks were still burning up. Kageyama couldn’t believe that they’d spied on him and listened to his confession. At least he knew he wasn’t in a dream, he thought. There was no way the amount of humiliation and embarrassment he felt was a product of his imagination.  


“Was that your volleyball team?” you asked once they were all out of view.  


Kageyama nodded, staring down at the ground. “Sorry. I can’t believe they…That wasn’t supposed to happen.”  


You laughed, a sound that tugged at his heart. The pain and disappointment he had felt just moments ago, before you told him that you liked him back, was now replaced with a feeling similar to how he felt after beating Aoba Johsai in that practice match. It was like an indescribably heavy weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.  


“Don’t worry, Tobio,” you said. “I don’t think anything can ruin this moment for me. I’m so happy!”  


With those words, you wrapped your arms around him. Kageyama stiffened at the sudden physical contact but hesitantly hugged you back. Was he doing this correctly? Was there a correct way to hug someone?  


“I was hoping those notes were from you,” you said as he inhaled sharply when he felt your breath tickle his neck. “I’ve liked you for so long but I didn’t think you liked me back because you were so in love with volleyball. Even Kunimi agreed that he couldn’t see you being invested in anything except sports! And I didn’t recognize the handwriting on the notes and you really didn’t seem like the note-writing type or like someone who would confess…”  


“Kunimi is an idiot,” Kageyama said. He was glad that you couldn’t see how red his face was. “I’ve liked you for a lot time, too. I had Suga-san write the notes so you wouldn’t know it was me. The team helped me figure how to tell you and convinced me to confess in the first place.”  


You giggled. “Tobio, you’re so adorable!”  


“Huh?” There were a lot of words Kageyama wanted you to describe him as. Attractive, strong, trustworthy…but _adorable_ was definitely not on the list. “I’m not!”  


“Of course you are.” Your grip around him tightened. “You act like you’re always annoyed by your teammates, but you actually get along with them really well, don’t you?”  


Kageyama sighed. Normally, he’d protest any suggestion that he didn’t loathe Tsukishima or that he wasn’t constantly annoyed by Hinata. But given that they, along with the rest of the team, had been responsible for him confessing to you and having his arms around you now, he figured that just this once, he could admit the truth. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”  


You looked up at him with a smile on your face. “Don’t worry. That’s just one of the things I like about you.”  


Kageyama smiled back. He normally wouldn’t be caught dead letting anyone call him “adorable,” but seeing your smile made him decide that you were an exception to that rule. You seemed to be an exception to a lot of things. If someone had told him a year ago, after your fight, that he’d be confessing his feelings to you behind the gym during lunch, he would’ve told them they were insane. If they had said that you liked him back, he would’ve thrown a volleyball at their face. Yet, here he was.  


Kageyama never would’ve guessed that his volleyball team would get him to confront his feelings and tell the girl he’d been pining over for so long how he felt. He always hated having people tell him how to do things. But, standing behind the gym with his arms around you, he decided that maybe learning how to confess wasn’t so bad after all.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow...Here we are, finally at the end of this story! Thank you so much to everyone who has stayed with and supported this fic, whether you're reading this on the day it was published or years later. I appreciate all of you! If you like my writing and want to see more, be sure to subscribe to my user from my dashboard so you'll know when I post a new fic- I currently have a very angsty Oikawa fic as well as a Tsukishima x Reader one up, and plans for many more stories in the near future. Otherwise, you can find me on tumblr @ArinFive for updates on new works that I post.  
> Thanks for reading! :)


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